Infection: A Korrasami Zombie AU
by AvatarUncanon
Summary: Zombie AU! Two years into the zombie epidemic, Korra meets the resilient and brilliant Asami Sato. Unfortunately, the vulnerability of love is a weakness in these troubling times.
1. Move

Move

The first sign that there was trouble was the burst of static that crackled from the radio in Korra's hand.

She had wanted to go in immediately. Her seatbelt came undone, her hand went to the door handle. The moment her fist clenched around the handle she was rudely reminded exactly why she was waiting in the car and not breaking into the clinic.

Her hand relaxed at her side. "Trust me." Mako had said before any of this.

She'd sent in Mako as lead, seconded by ever observant Kuvira and third as Kai. Mako was a good leader with killer instinct; he sized things up faster than anyone, even herself. More importantly he could keep Kuvira in check. Kuvira was a dogged fighter. No one wanted to survive more than Kuvira. And Kai, well he was the kind to throw himself on a grenade. Not that Korra would ever allow him to do so, but his loyalty was always good in tough situations. Plus, he could improvise with the best of them.

Outside the jeep, Bolin was lighting a cigarette and shaking out his legs. Her could hold off any assailant for a good bit if need be. He liked being a guard. Protecting someone was always Bolin's favorite pastime.

They had parked a small ways from a veterinary office in the mountains. The road here had been made of dirt and gravel. From her vantage point was a wide gravel road flanked with forestry and a dipping sun. The gravel road disappeared with a sharp turn, concealed with dense forest. She sat in a jeep that had no windows, and the doors were low. Metal bars went up from all sides and the top was supposed to crank up or down. Key words being "supposed to." It had one position: down.

She knew they could hold their own but she still wished she could have gone in with them. They were only risking so much to get her medication after all. Not for the first time she regretted not seeing the crowbar in time. She'd been caught off guard and if she hadn't dodged as quick as she did it would have cracked her skull in half on the spot. Instead, it left a nasty gash on her shoulder which had readily accepted all kinds of bacteria. Bacteria that liked spreading infection to all of her body hence being covered in sheen of sweat even though it was a breezy sixty degrees. Her muscles hurt. Breathing hurt. Her - well, her everything hurt.

She rested in the passenger side of their jeep a pistol in one hand and a machete slumped against her leg.

Just as she was about to find restless sleep a shot rang out. Bolin spun to her eyes wide.

"Korra-," He began. But Korra had already seized her radio.

"Mako, status! Are you guys alright!" She shouted, "What's happening!"

Static.

"Kuvira, Status."

Static.

"Kai, status!"

Sweat now dribbled down her forehead and it had nothing to do with her infection. She desperately clutched the radio. Her heart throbbed faster with each question that crossed her mind. Human or undead? How many undead? Were they surrounded? If so, how badly outnumbered? Two to one? Ten to one? And finally, how many causalities?

Her heart broke in half. She had tried to compartmentalize what had happened to Opal, same as everyone. But she couldn't lose anyone else. Not even Kuvira.

All of these questions poured in a fraction of a second until she released the radio.

Static.

Then…

Three more shots rang out. Without hesitance Bolin raised his machete.

A quiet beat followed. Where they both waited for whatever shit storm brewed in the sky.

It happened so fast, blink and you missed it: The front of the veterinary clinic swung open and out poured the undead. What had to be at least two dozen. Some limped past others with broken limbs, others grabbed aimlessly for prey beyond their reach. They oozed from the building, unaware that their pale rotting faces were home to maggots. Their jaws were bloody from past victims, broken by escaped victims and, most pressingly, hungry for more victims.

"O-oh man. This is not good!" Bolin observed, adjusting his hold on his machete to a brutish hold, no time for fancy slashing, just heavy handed blows, "Not good!" He repeated.

They were a small ways down the street but the damned things moved fast.

Korra leapt from the passenger side of the jeep to the driver side. Her muscles ached in pain. Simultaneously her muscles begged her not to move, preferably not ever again. She ignored them and twisted the key in the ignition. It stirred unhappy, "Dammit!" She swore twisting the key and hearing the engine let out an unsatisfied belch.

"Korra, I don't mean to rush you-,"

"I'm working on it, Bo!"

The first and fastest wave made it to the jeep in less than twenty seconds.

Bolin raised his machete and sunk it into the first undead. Then a second. He spun and caught a third. Korra turned the key and gave a little gas. "Commoncommoncommon," she chanted like a gambler at the slots. She twisted and gassed. Nothing.

She tried again...

She hit the jackpot. The engine sputtered to life. Not pretty, but it would do. Bolin didn't hesitate with finishing off two undead, and leaping into the jeep.

"Get us out of here, now! Now!"

Korra's foot slammed the gas. They blew past a short wave of fast moving undead.

Just as she moved to radio in a pick-up location to her hopefully living crew her eyes caught sight of four bodies, three of which she recognized, one of which she had never seen before climbing out of a small window from atop the veterinary clinic.

In her rearview she spotted Mako and Kai waving her down.

"Bolin," Korra grabbed Bolin's attention as he cut through the neck of an undead who had managed to climb into the jeep, "Grab onto something!" He obeyed, grabbing the side of the jeep with one hand and firing a gun with his other.

The swarm rushed the jeep as Korra slipped the jeep into reverse, breaking fast and re-accelerated in the opposite direction. They bound across the street, the military sized jeep smashing against the threadbare bodies of the undead. Finally the wheels found purchase in the softer lawn of the office building and began shredding the grass.

Korra had only just began breaking in front of the building when an undead managed to pounce through the passenger window. Unhinging his jaw, he moved to sink his teeth into her forearm.

Judiciously she lifted her pistol, slipped the barrel against the underside of its jaw and pulled the trigger. Brains exploded across the windshield and her face as she hollered, "Move it!" She'd maneuvered the jeep just below them on the roof of the office.

Mako turned to Kuvira and all but thrust her head first into the jeep. Followed by more than ready to go Kai and a dark-haired newcomer.

Mako made to jump into the jeep only to be stopped by a hand grabbing him around his ankle. He tripped and fell forward with a cry as the stealthy undead unhinged his teeth ready to chomp down. Mako spun, moments too late. His eyes widened in absolute horror as he witnessed the beginning of his own end. The rotting teeth and scarred face suddenly dropped backwards pinned against the roof by a dagger. Mako turned an appreciative gaze to Bolin whose arm was still in position from throwing the precise shot. Quickly, Mako scrambled into the jeep, his eyes still wide from the realization of how close he'd been.

Korra's foot was already on the gas. Bolin swung his gun to take out the undead closing in on the front of the jeep as Mako made a defense for the left side with Kuvira on the right. They broke through the undead much slower than they had managed to get in.

In one minute they'd barely cleared forty feet from the building.

They were surrounded heavily on the front and sides. Easily two dozen of them. Other undead began emerging from the woods having been called by the gunfire. A clustering effect began with the undead steadily closing in on all sides. In seconds they'd be completely overrun.

"We need to get out of here!" Mako shouted over the heavy breathing and wild swipes of the undead. Taking aim of a close undead he released a bullet clean through its skull.

"Working on it!" That was becoming her catchphrase and she didn't like it. Korra grit her teeth as she drove over the corpse of an undead the jeep rattling and slowing even further from the effort.

"We might need to abandon the jeep at this rate!" Bolin added pulling the trigger of his gun, "Shit." He said realizing it was empty. He dropped the weapon and rearmed his machete.

"Shit!" Korra echoed to herself. If they died right now, outside the clinic, it would be her fault. They wouldn't be here if it weren't for her.

"The only thing keeping them at bay is this goddamned jeep!" Kuvira paused and reloaded before continuing to shoot.

Of course there was another option Korra knew. And she'd worked it out before they had even left their base:

If the situation got bad enough she could give herself to the undead.

It would offer enough distraction for them to get away. She unlocked the door. Besides, even with the medication she'd have three long weeks of recovery ahead of her, that was if she responded to the meds. For all she knew her body was already too far gone. It certainly felt like it. Worse, she'd be a vulnerability, a liability that might very well get herself and her crew killed.

She turned her eyes to Kai, as he released a specialty arrow and sent it spinning steadily into the chest of one - no, two undead, skewering them both together with enough force that they were pinned into a nearby traffic sign. They struggled around one another too dumb to work together and dislodge the thing. Kuvira was firing two .45 caliber handguns at once. Mako had taken two machetes and was hacking at anything that moved outside the jeep. Bolin had his six, banging two undead heads together and clobbering a third with a machete.

She watched them. Proud they were fighting so hard. Proud to have lead them for so long. Her fingers found her mother's torn betrothal necklace which she'd carried in her pocket since she'd passed. An awkward sounding prayer to the gracefully dead began forming in her head.

She resigned at that moment completely ready for the gruesome death awaiting her.

Just as she prepared to exit the car a hand seized her arm. She spun, expecting an undead but instead found green eyes concealed in long dark bangs pinned behind the head of a beautiful woman. Even in a coating of dirt the face still took Korra's breath away, "Move." The beauty said climbing from the back to the front.

Korra climbed aside into the passenger seat. If someone thought there was an option, Korra would try it before she ended her own life.

The girl put the car in reverse first.

"Uhm, I think we're trying to go the other direction," Korra mentioned.

But the wind was already beginning to howl in her hair. Behind them was only lightly dense. But it was enough that they were rushing at the building hitting high speeds. The distance between the jeep and the building began closing quickly. Way too quickly. Mako began hollering for them to slow down or they would-

The newcomer yanked a hard left on the wheel. Mako toppled into Bolin. Kai missed a shot he'd made with his arrow, only taking off an ear of an undead rather than its head. Only Kuvira had anticipated the unexpected, she barely stumbled and continued firing rapidly.

Undead hit the side of the jeep as they spun what could be described as a dizzying 180 degree turn with them facing right instead of forward. They'd cleared the building with mere inches to spare. This path was not nearly as dense as going straight forward. Why had Korra not seen it?

The newcomer sent them forward again. She course corrected facing away from the office once again and towards a better path all of five yards from where they'd started. The only difference was that the cluster of undead now clustered around gravel instead of their jeep. In fact it took them a moment to realize their prey had moved away. If they weren't brain dead their expression might have said, "Where'd they go?"

In the midst of this, the green eyed newcomer had never bothered to break. Instead, she hit the gas causing them to toggle back and forth from one side of wheels to the other. All of this in under thirty seconds.

Bolin and Mako clanked teeth. Kai turned green ready to puke. No one had signed up for a rollercoaster ride. Except maybe Kuvira who spun around no longer interested in the light population on her side of the jeep. She took up shooting over Korra and the newcomer's head. The sound was deafening. Seriously. Two .45 caliber handguns methodically dinging off in her ears? Korra's teeth were rattling in her skull. She looked over at the newcomer, whose face was intense with concentration, not even flinching from the sound in her ears.

Stomach in her throat Korra raised her pistol and fired taking down the last of opposition if only to make Kuvira sit down and shut up with all that racket. As they sped past what had once been a death trap she turned to the newcomer with jet black hair in a sloppy bun. She wore a green pendant around her neck which hung over her confident shoulder blades and matched her lovely emerald eyes.

Guilt suddenly consumed Korra. This girl - whom they had known for all of ten minutes - hadn't given up even when Korra had.

Clearing ground quickly and jetting past the arriving undead who emerged from the forest, the girl hit the bend at full speed, coasting the car as opposed to breaking into the turn. It was like she had watched too much "Fast and Furious" growing up.

"I don't know who you are!" Bolin said as everyone took up proper seats in the jeep, "But I love you!" He leaned forward and planted a big, wet kiss on her cheek.

The girl smiled. Stress oozing away and her expression softening. And when that happened she became even more gorgeous, "My name's Asami."

"Thank you," Korra smiled at the driver a bit too dreamily, the next word putting butterflies in her stomach, "Asami."


	2. Survive

Survive

2 YEARS AGO

Korra met her father at the hospital. His tie hung lose around his neck, his eyes were red from crying, "Korra!" He called to his teenage daughter. Korra dropped her gym bag at her feet and allowed her father to pull her into a hug.

The hospital bustled with motion as everyone galloped to get one job or another done. Nurses gave out medicine, doctrors practced triage, EMS rushed the halls calling elevator doors to be held.

"We're getting calls requesting beds!" A nurse with a phone in her hand said.

"Tell them to try Westlake, we're full!"

A headline on television caught Korra's attention:

Three Students and Five Faculty Confirmed Dead, Sixteen Injured.

A concerned reporter continued on a mounted television, "…the teacher had been home the last two days with flu like symptoms. Today, just past noon she allegedly entered the school and began attacking students and faculty. Reports say she appeared to be mauling …"

Korra broke away from her father's embrace, "Where's mom?"

Her father's eyes grieved suddenly.

"Is she…" The word felt dry in Korra's mouth.

"No." Relief spread over Korra, "But, she's… Korra, she's not well."

"I want to see her." He restrained her.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"What do you-,"

Korra's words stopped as she noticed a female patient crossing the threshold of her room. IV chords hanging from her arms she stepped into the hallway, shoulders hunched with her head dipped to the floor. The untied hospital gown she wore revealed a bite mark on her outer thigh. Everything about the patient seemed out of place and odd.

A nurse pushed an elderly man in a wheelchair past the irregular patient. The nurse leaned down, "How's my favorite-," That was when the out of sorts patient snatched her by the shoulder blades.

"Hey-," the nurse's words became a gurgling noise as the female patient sunk her teeth into her exposed neck.

Korra stared in disbelief at the woman whose eyes had glazed over and lips had become slick with vibrant blood. Looking closer she could see the familiar betrothal necklace around her neck. Her pulse quickened in her ears as she breathed the word, "Mom?"

Her mom began devouring the nurse, pulling her teeth through her neck, chewing on the thick muscle tissue. Blood spilled across the floor. The man in the wheelchair attempted an escape only to realize his wheels were locked. His eyes widened as his chair toppled over pinning his frail weak body to the floor.

Korra's mother looked up at the noise. She sprung atop the man. He shouted for help attempting to shake her off but her grip had become a vice around his bony limb. Undeterred by the old man's foot slamming into the side of her head she sunk in her teeth and removed a chunk of his flabby flesh. The old man screamed in agony stomping with all he had at the crazed woman.

"Mom, stop!" Korra began shouting just as a doctor reached her mother. His hand landed on her shoulders and he tried to pull her off the elderly man. Her mom grabbed his wrist and chomped down.

The doctor gasped then screamed in pain before wrenching his hand away and stumbling to the floor. He scurried backwards into the arms of his co-workers, "She bit me! Oh, God she bit my hand!"

"Stop!" Korra shouted, not at her mother but at the male nurse who ran towards her mother. He tackled the woman to the ground. Korra's mom sprawled on the floor as the nurse tried to pin her arms behind her back. He was caught off guard when Korra's mom simply allowed her arm to be broken.

Bones ruptured and penetrated the containing skin suddenly exposed to the world. She whipped the broken limb free and shoved the nurse off her with the other. She flipped her weight atop of the male nurse then unhinged, gore and saliva dribbling from her chin before she sunk into the side of his face.

Shoving her father's protective arms from around her the headstrong teen raced up alongside her mother.

Vomit in her throat she looked upon her mother and what she'd done. Chomping and trailing through the nurses stomach contents causing a violent stench to touch the air. Why was she doing this? What had happened to her?

The last time she'd seen her she was leaving the house to take out the trash. They'd been talking about a dinner party with neighbors they mutually disliked, "I thought you liked free food." Her mom had said taking their recycling bin under her arm.

Korra laughed around the cereal in her mouth, "You have me confused with Dad."

"Mom, please," Korra felt tears stinging her eyes. She took one careful step after the other until a squishing sound grabbed her attention. Looking down she observed the pool of blood she now stood in.

When she looked up she found her mother's intent gaze on her. Not with the same blue eyes Korra had inherited from her. No, these eyes were glazed over. The eyes that had regarded her with so much love and care now didn't see her. Desperately, she begged, "Please stop."

Her mother lunged for her.

Korra threw up her arms, flinching away as her mother seized her by the arms and pulled her in.

The pop was deafening and if Korra's eyes hadn't been closed Korra would have seen it coming.

She opened her eyes to see her mother stood mere inches in front of her. With so little distance between them Korra could see the sporadic dilation and inflation of her mom's pupils. She could see the overextended pores beneath her eyes and trace the wide fissures in her skin.

For a moment she thought her mother would go ahead and do to Korra what she had done to all those others. However, to her surprise, her mom discontinued her pursuit of Korra instead at an almost leisurely pace she turned to face whoever had been so bold as to shoot her in the leg. She released Korra's shoulder blades gently as if to say, "I'll be right back. Stay here."

Behind her stood a police officer, his gun still aimed. His inexperienced eyes took in the sight of the woman with disbelief. Then, the woman unhinged her jaw and let out a hissing sound. Her mother began advancing towards the officer. He fired again the bullet struck her chest, a second bullet her shoulder. Her mother bucked back from the bullets purchasing in her body but she kept coming. With each shot his amazement gave way to terror.

"Shit!" The cop panicked.

"No!" Korra reached towards the officer, "Don't-," But the officer aimed higher and pulled the trigger. Her mother's cerebral matter erupted across Korra's front then the rest of her sunk to the ground and lay at her feet.

"Korra," A gentle hand caressed her face. She smiled and nestled her cheek into her mother's soft hand. "Korra, I'm finished." The voice didn't belong to her mother. Her eyes shot open and she was met with overwhelmingly beautiful green eyes.

A smile worked over the stunning face, "I'm finished," Asami's smile became shy and Korra realized she'd been nuzzling into her hand. Hastily Korra released her hand and sat upright.

Breathing deeply she rid herself of the last two haunting years of her life but the ugly memory of her mother two years ago remained suspended behind her eyelids.

"Thanks," Korra said running a hand through her sweaty matted hair. Asami began to wind a cotton tablecloth around Korra's stomach before having it move up across her shoulder.

"You keep saying that," Asami said checking that the homemade bandages were wrapping securely, "But it's really no big deal."

Korra couldn't help but love the way Asami's cold fingers felt against her clammy skin, "Yeah, it kinda is."

They'd survived the attack only to have their jeep break down forty miles later. A day's hike had brought them to this small barren town.

The town looked like something out of a western film complete with tumbling balls of dust and wind chimes clanking obnoxiously against each other. A fence had been erected around the town's edges and lookout posts dotted every hundred feet or so. It must have been a great set up: wells, livestock stables, crops – everything needed to ride out this nightmare. But testimony given by the bullet holes and the occasional burned vehicle littering the town told Korra they had probably been attacked and forced to leave.

Once in town they'd found the modest dining restaurant they now sat in.

Kai had boarded the diner up and was now restringing his bow. Upon Asami's request (and Korra's order), Kuvira had retrieved several gallons of water from a well and was now cleaning her guns. Asami had taken it upon herself to clean Korra's wound. She'd packed the gaping mess with poulticed yarrow and shoveled several cups of cinnamon tea into Korra until she was practically gagging. In the meantime, Korra had sent Mako and Bolin to find them some wheels.

Some time later, Mako and Bolin still hadn't returned. Korra looked over at Kai and Kuvira nodding a silent signal to go find them. They both stood up and exited the diner.

"So what's the story behind the cut?" Asami asked once they were alone.

Korra countered, "What's the story behind you being in the clinic with the undead?"

Asami nodded, seeing Korra's meaning. She had offered Asami the opportunity to leave when their jeep broke down. Asami wouldn't have made it out of that clinic without her crew and the crew wouldn't have gotten away from the undead without Asami's driving. That made them even and Korra had expected to part ways. For some reason Asami had decided to stay and now she wanted to know why.

"I was with a group. We'd gotten it in our heads that there was a safe haven up in these mountains. The only way to get there was getting past a major city. We were more than a hundred miles from the city and thought there was no danger, no more than normal anyways. What we didn't expect was to be caught in the middle of a migration. It was-," Asami broke off into disturbed silence. Korra had heard of migrations. They were massive waves of undead herding toward loud noises. Of course the wave of undead made more noise drawing in more undead. If you happened to find yourself between a migration and the noise you became the object of their interest.

Asami finished with hesitance, "It was a massacre. We didn't see the wave until it was right on top of us. I think-," She paused to swallow the reality, "I think I'm the only one who made it out. I must have run at least ten miles that night. It was uphill and the recent storm had turned the ground below to mush. I just remember hearing them clamoring around me. I remember how every time I stumbled or fell there was one right there to pounce on top of me, ready to end me. The forest was so dark that I didn't see them until they would grab me. About three miles before I found the clinic I lost my weapon and I thought, 'This is it. I'm going to die.'"

Korra's hand found Asami's. She couldn't imagine losing Mako or Bolin or any of her crew. She couldn't imagine being surrounded and alone with no way to defend herself except her fists. Asami had lost all of her group, she'd battled her way out for miles and she had only just now showed her grief. Korra admired her perseverance and resilience.

"I'm so sorry." Korra said softly.

Brushing at the tears slipping down her cheeks, Asami began pouring another cup of lukewarm tea, "I ran into the clinic a few days before you guys arrived. There was a basement and I managed to get inside and chain it shut. I knew it was a bad idea but," She shook her head, "I couldn't run anymore. I didn't have a mile left in me. I thought I'd die in there. I could hear the undead scratching through the wood. I knew it was only a matter of time before they scraped their way in." Asami paused in thought, "I don't know which would have been worse: being eaten alive or dying of dehydration. I just collapsed against the wall wondering which would claim me first." She nibbled at her lip in thought. In a way Korra recognized the damaged expression. It must have been the same one she wore when she thought of her mother that day in the hospital. "When you guys showed up it distracted the undead long enough for me to get out the basement."

A few quiet minutes passed until Asami retrieved Korra a freshly washed and dried shirt. "Here you go." She pawed at lingering tears a moment then forced a smile, "Good as new." As the girl busied herself with adding soap to a pot of hot water Korra watched her. She wanted to ask if she was alright, mentally. But she knew the answer to that. If you managed to survive this long there was no way you weren't fucked up in the head.

Korra groaned and stretched her body. Her stomach had already begun to calm. The throbbing in her shoulder wasn't as painful. The packed in yarrow had stopped the bleeding and the clean shirt no longer reeked of undead and sweat. She resisted the urge to thank Asami again as she pulled the blue fabric over her head.

Where nausea had once called home in her stomach, worry took its place. Where was her crew?

"You really shouldn't-," Asami began but Korra was already on her feet. She moved past the register and serving counter. She could see into the kitchen and the backdoor from here.

"What's the story behind the cut?" Asami asked as Korra began rolling her shoulders.

"Well," Korra winced from the tightness, "We were ambushed a few nights ago by-,"

She heard a faint noise.

Asami had began gently washing her hands in hot soapy water, she now looked up, "Oh common don't leave me-," Korra raised a finger to her own lips cutting Asami off.

A moment of silence followed. Then there was that sound again. Asami stood up quietly behind her.

Listening close she could hear wood creaking.

The small restaurant had been built long ago. The wooden porch creaked with even the softest step. No matter how quiet you tried to be the damned thing would creak.

Which is exactly what it was doing.

Then it stopped. She stood in front of the front door just before it dawned on her-

She bound aside a split second before the door was kicked off its hinges.

A man entered the restaurant with a handgun. Knowing he'd caught them off guard and unarmed he smirked and aimed at Korra. She reached out decisively smacking the barrel upward just as his finger closed on the trigger. The loud sound echoed in the modest space of the diner.

She didn't ask questions - those came later. Instead she snatched his wrist. She spun until they were flush back to chest with her hands holding firmly to his hand and immobilizing his ability to aim the weapon. He squeezed the trigger firing a round into the floorboards.

"They're circling around back!" Asami warned just as crowbars tore apart the boards Kai had installed over the backdoor. A few short seconds later the backdoor was kicked off its hinges.

Shit. Korra grit her teeth struggling with the first man a little longer before she released the gun with one hand and jammed her elbow into his nose. He stumbled backwards with a steady stream of blood already gushing beneath his hands.

Another man arrived and was met with Asami throwing the pot of hot soapy water on him before doubling it around and thrashing it against his skull. She quickly dropped the pot before she completely seared her own fingers off.

Korra grabbed the bloodied nosed man around the neck and shoulders then rammed his head through a wall.

Asami and Korra met in the center of the small dining area their backs pressing against one another with Asami ready to take whoever came through the back and Korra the front. The design of the restaurant made attackers have to come in bottle neck fashion, one at a time.

"You shouldn't be on your feet," Asami worried. Korra almost laughed at Asami's timing.

"Believe me; I'd rather have your fingers on my skin right now." That was not what Korra had meant to say. She'd remember to blush about that later…

Right now, footsteps rushed up the stairs and onto the creaking porch. The assailant led with a kick. Korra managed to deflect it only to be met by a fist colliding against the side of her face the force of which knocked her to the floor.

Her injured shoulder hit the ground first and hardest. She screamed clutching her shoulder wishing she could just will the pain away. The assailants foot powered upward preparing to stomp her. In spite of her pain, Korra reacted sweeping out her leg and hooking it around the only thing keeping the attacker's body upright. The force brought him tumbling down. By time he hit the floor she'd already gotten back on her feet and was bouncing him between her foot and the floorboard.

Meanwhile Asami was rushed by a girl with a razor. Thinking fast Asami snagged a nearby chair. She countered two swift motions with the chair, grunting when a jab made it through and sliced her cheek. Taking a firmer stance she charged forward jamming the leg of the chair into the assailants wind pipe. As the attacker doubled over gasping Asami spun the chair in her hands. Holding the chair by its feet she brought the chair down on the attackers back. The force caused the chair to erupt in Asami's hands. Becoming genuinely pissed with this random attack, she thrust the crumbled chair aside.

Korra licked her bloody lips raising her one good arm into a fist and readying a handicapped stance. When the next attacker arrived Korra didn't hesitate to land a decisive blow from her foot to the side of his head. The force sent him fumbling backwards against the door frame and onto the porch where he dropped unconscious.

A ballpark whistle pierced the air, "Everyone, stand down!"

Everyone? Korra wondered. Just how badly were they outnumbered?

"We have your friends, so if you would please come out here we can negotiate terms."

Korra briefly checked around with Asami. She first noticed the blood running from large wooden splinters in Asami's fists then the puzzled expression they both shared. A second thought struck her as she turned back around, the girl could hold her own in a fight. Then again, how else had she survived a night in the forest of undead?

"How do we know they're not dead?" Korra hollered.

A few seconds passed and then came a squeamish voice from Bolin, "Oh, god Korra it was terrible! They shoved a dirty sock in my – mmmph!"

Dammit. She'd sent Kai and Kuvira right into their hands.

"Please come outside with your hands up." The female's voice asked so politely you would think she was inviting them to a dinner party not holding her crew hostage.

"Alright!" Korra responded after a long moment, "We're coming out."

Her heart was pounding and her body was aching all over. The only reason she could stand upright was the adrenaline pumping throughout her body.

When she stepped outside the sun hit her in the face. Asami's steps creaked behind her on the weak wooden porch.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust but when they did what she saw made her stop dead in her tracks. Her mouth fell slightly agape. Her brain misfired looking for the right words to say but only one legible word could be formed:

"Damn."

The "damn" came from the forty guns pointed directly at them and the fact Korra hadn't heard them assemble there. The "damn" came from the four "visible" snipers lining the rooftops. The "damn" came from when she looked down to see two red dots pointed directly at her heart. The "damn" came from the two small children each pointing handguns at the gagged and bound heads of her crew.

But mostly, the "damn" came from the fact that the person standing forth front, the person in charge of this covert ambush and sizable group, held a revolver in one hand and was rocking a sleeping child in the other. The put-upon mom furrowed her eyebrows, "Korra?"

Korra recovered, but not really, "Pema?"


	3. Leave

Leave

10 MONTHS AGO

Korra could feel the cold coming. It pinched her nose and dried her eyes. Exiting the tent she could see the plume of a fresh fire going. She approached Opal's petite figure from behind. The girl looked over her shoulder at Korra, "You're up early." Opal noted pleasantly.

"Couldn't sleep." Opal nodded. Turning around she reclined on the counter and looked across the collected tables of what they considered the cafeteria.

"Winter is coming," Korra began like she had every day for the past month.

"Korra," Opal's eyes drifted over to the muscled teen. She warned her for Tenzin's sake. Tenzin sat in the makeshift cafeteria staring across the table at them.

Their group had lived in the car junk yard for all of a year. The fences kept out the undead, the cars kept away prying eyes, but no one had anticipated bandits breaking in.  
Tenzin sat at the table, and she didn't question if he had moved from the night before. She knew he had sat there all night with his crumbled up letter as he had every night for the last two months.

His arms had become heavy with grief, his features settled on a blank expression. Though the bags beneath his eyes were heavy they weighed nothing compared to the crumpled paper in his hand and what it meant to him.

Even Lin, who appreciated the man for who he used to be, could see he'd been consumed with depression and his leadership was all but non-existent.

It was people like Korra who lead them in hunting expeditions, who got down and dug latrines, who heaved laundry to and from the lake day after day that had kept the group going.

"Winter is coming," Korra glared at the empty shell of what had once been a great man, "But I suppose you don't even care about that now that Pema is gone." Bitter. That's what she'd become. So very bitter since losing her father and mother.

At the mention of her name Tenzin looked up with the hope of an orphan hearing his mother's voice on a tape recorder, "Have you heard anything about my wife and children?"

Korra looked at the man. He'd neglected the importance of everything else she had said.

"Korra," Opal warned again.

"We won't survive winter this year." She repeated. But he'd become so removed he didn't even look at her.

His glassy eyes were bloodshot from insomnia, his body waif from not eating. Even still his words came out with a good measure of force, "We stay put until Pema returns."

Korra went to speak and was cut short by screaming, "Help! Help! Someone help me!"

Tenzin got to his feet quickly, "Pema!"

Opal and Korra looked to one another. The voice screaming was male and young by the sound of it. Not Pema, but undoubtedly someone in trouble. The voices came just beyond the fence where the tree line began.

Korra raced towards the voices, "Help! Someone help!" Now it became a duet of two voices calling for help.

"Go get the others." Korra commanded slipping into the role of a leader before Tenzin had even considered what that would look like. Taking the machete off of Tenzin's side she asked, "Mind if I borrow this?" Tenzin's expression looked dumbfounded as she disarmed him and raced towards the fence opening.

Just then the sight came into view.

Two young males being pursued by a cluster of undead.

"Open the gates!" She called to Tenzin.

"No!" Tenzin said over her shoulder. She spun to him.

"What do you mean 'no'?" She turned to the gates where the boys had made it to the fence. She planted her feet and said the words menacingly, "Open the gates."

One began climbing the fence.

"Bolin, hurry!" The lanky boy called to the broader shouldered boy as he too began to climb.

"I have the only key so there is no use asking the others. As I've said before: we do not open our gates to strangers."

"Since when?"

"Since I lost the mother of my children to-,"

"This is different."

"How?" Tenzin countered.

Korra grit her teeth and grumbled. They didn't have time for this. The undead pulled the slender boy down. He hit the ground hard.

"For one they aren't bandits!" Korra moved to the fence, her hands grappled the gates entrance. It had been chained shut and locked.

"How do you know that?" Tenzin asked. Bolin leapt off the fence.

Korra's tone turned darker than even before, " Give. Me. The. Key." Tenzin took a step away from her first.

"No!" he shouted almost like a child then turned and began stomping away. She could chase him down. Beat his ass and take the damned key. But she respected everything he had don'e for her and her family for a year. She knew her father simply would not approve of her beating a widowed old man. "Dammit!"

Outside the fence the boy named Bolin had grabbed hold of a large rock. He cracked the skull of an undead and turned smashing another one in the jaw. The undead's jaw hung on hinges, broken clean through, but he continued advancing even with his severed jaw dripping blood down his shirt. Bolin swung around, tightening his grip on the rock before powering his fist through the skull. It caved around his hand with a sickening sound and he pulled his hand free to find it covered in the decayed maggot filled insides of the undead.

The second boy took out a dagger and shoved it into the spine of an undead. He shoved him away, the dagger came dislodged and the undead was sent sprawling to the ground. With it's spine severed it became reduced to crawling across the earth on it's belly, ragged fingers slowly raking its body forward.

Korra took off towards a pile of scrap and rubble. Skidding to stop she began kicking aside a large slab with her foot then she bent down and shoved aside a beam.

Opal raced to her side along with Kuvira.

"What do you need?" Opal asked.

"We can't get through," Korra grunted, "so we get over. Find something that can hang over the side of that fence." Opal turned and dashed away leaving her with Kuvira.

"What are you doing?" Kuvira asked. Korra ignored her.

She continued kicking through one piece of rubbish after the other she found a thick long piece of wood, she pointed to an end of it, "Grab and lift."

Together the two women hoisted the wood up alongside the fence at a slanted angle. The fence jingled and swayed with the new weight.  
Korra took a few steps back from the slanted wood, "What are you-," Kuvira began then realized what she was doing, "That wood won't hold your weight!" But Korra had already taken a running start.

Her feet bound against the wooden slope taking her one story off the ground. She felt the board sway beneath her, each step higher the wood groaned until finally it gave way beneath her. Knowing her luck had run out Korra thrust both feet into the wood and aimed herself forward.

The wood collapsed aside into the gravel, dirt and dust. She retrained her eyes on the girl crazy enough to leap the fence with no way of return.

Korra's body sailed the distance, arching clear of the fence with a few feet to spare before gravity took hold pulling her to the earth. She tucked her body into the impact rolling off the momentum and using some of it to propel her back to her feet.

"Woah!" Bolin's eyes melted in adoration having witnessed the whole thing.

"Catch!' she tossed each boy a machete.

Motion from her right was met with a machete being driven through its eye. She met a second undead by powering through its chest with her foot.

"Korra!" Opal tossed a heavy chain over the fence. She gave the chain slack and it began clinking against the metal as it lowered down the fence.

The slender boy immediately made for the chain, ready to go. The boy grabbed the chain tightly and as soon as he did he was met with Opal and Kuvira pulling him up by hauling the chain backwards. Their combined strength had him over the side in just under a minute. He grabbed the top of the fence then swung his legs over before dropping down. He raced to the back of the chain as Opal gave more slack and allowed the chain to rattle back down the opposite side.

Meanwhile Korra sliced through the stomach of an undead and watched its intestines drop free to the ground, unraveling. Unsurprisingly, even having been slit open the undead didn't falter its assault, tripping over its own insides and landing face first in the now deflated mess. The stench was horrifically pungent like death had crawled inside un-hatched eggs of... Korra felt herself want to puke.

Placing her grimy wrist to her nose, Korra slammed the sharp of her machete into its head.

"Hurry up!" She said between breaths as undead closed around her.

Bolin grabbed the chain and was skyrocketed upward by the opposing force of the three grunting youth. Midway there something seemed to dawn on him, "Wait! What about Kai?" Bolin asked.

"Bolin, he's done for! Leave him!" The slender boy called back.

"But Mako, he's-," Bolin paused, "He's our confused little brother."

Something seemed to dawn on Mako, "Bolin, don't you even think about-," but Bolin had already released the chain. The three youth fell like dominos into one another from their own unrestricted force.

"Dammit, Bolin!" Mako rushed towards the fence, "I swear to god Bolin, if you-," But Bolin had already vanished behind the forest line.  
Hastily, Mako began climbing the fence. Opal grabbed him under his arms, pulling him back as the mouths of three hungry undead chomped where his fingers had been only a fraction of a second before.

"Let go of me! He's my brother! Get off me!"

Undead closed in on Korra from all sides. Opal returned to the side of the fence she took out a gun, "Korra get down!" And she began firing. Kuvira joined the effort. Undead started dropping like flies as the two girls stood behind the line taking them out. Korra stepped towards the fence and covered her ears as the popping sound rung out.  
Job done they both dropped their weapons. A small opening was presented to Korra. She could go after Bolin or get back over the fence. Opal took up the chain ready to take her back over.

Korra decided, she made a move to the tree line.

"Korra!" Opal shouted after her.

She pushed through the thick underbrush. Ahead of her she could hear the noisy boy stomping through. He was in good shape, but not better than Korra. She was at his flank in seconds, "Where?" she asked.

"Lake!"

She then overcame him, her feet hitting the ground at full speed she left him in her dust.

In seventy feet or so she began to hear a voice, "Help! Bolin! Mako! Help me!"

Lungs ragged with effort she burst broken into the opening of the lake. The boy had no shirt on. At some point he had used a shoe as protection against the undead.

He crawled across the top of a tall rock face. Undead at his feet threatened to pull him down and devour them. Six of them. Korra went forward ready to take down the undead but just then the boy turned revealing his backside for only a second.

That's when she saw the tattoos. Black ink spanned his wiry back in a circular fashion surrounding a tear made of vines, snakes and dying roses.

The tattoo wasn't unknown to her. In fact the insignia was very familiar. It had been worn by the men who had raided their junk yard only two months ago.

She breathed the word, "Bandit."

Six undead was nothing. She cut them down like wheat and when she was done she looked over at the boy. Her anger swelled, reason diminished.

"Wow!" The boy grinned a disarming smile from atop the rocks above her, "You're an incredible fighter. Thanks!"

Korra grabbed him by the ankle and slammed him to the ground. She pinned him with one hand by the shoulder.

"Fucking bandit!" She raised her machete in the air. The boy froze in shock. How quickly the girl's demeanor had changed. Korra powered down ready to exterminate the goddamned beast that had taken so much from her and the people she cared about. Kai caught her hand that gripped the machete. The effort of just that took both of his hands. His eyes bulged as he realized what he was up against and Korra could feel his bones and muscles exerting themselves just to keep the machete from his face. The machete hung centimeters above him and he grunted and tried to squirm free. But any motion he made brought the machete down further.

She moved her hand from his shoulder to his throat. The boy tried to fling her off with his elbows but the machete boar down on him and he stopped. Her hand now clutch his throat and she unceremoniously began choking the life from him.

Korra glared at the boy. A sick something in her mind not allowing her to use all of her force. If she did she could easily run him through. But she wanted to see the hope fade from his eyes when he realized he wasn't strong enough to keep away death.

Just like Korra had felt when the bandits attacked her group. When she lost Pema and the four angels she'd come to think of as siblings. Helplessness like watching her father leave with Suyin and Wei in the night. Or the countless times she'd found Opal crying for her lost family. So much helplessness. She wanted someone else to feel it for once.  
The machete made purchase in his skin, digging into his cheek, cutting back his soft adolescent flesh and allowing blood to pool around the dirty blade then slide over his round cheek.

"Not a ba-," he struggled to say.

The weight that hit her from the side sent her reeling back into the rocks. Her head banged against them and she fell limp to the ground. Her last sight was Bolin as he helped the bewildered boy off the ground.

When Korra pushed aside the flap of Tenzin's tent she found Tenzin sitting on his bed. Glaring at the young boy who had been chained to a heavy metal desk.

The room was lit with flickering candles and a certain red darkness surrounded them. As if Tenzin's depression hung to the fabric of the tent like a ghost.

Korra took a steadying breath. She knew what she'd done was wrong. The bandits might have committed unforgivable wrongs but that gave her no right to act as the young boys judge, jury and executioner.

Tenzin's face made no effort to hide his contempt.

In that moment Korra realized it wasn't weakness that had kept Tenzin's eyes glued on the gate awaiting Pema's return. It hadn't been cowardice that had him staring at the crumbled note. It had been a commitment to the people he loved. And the only thing that had pried his eyes away from the gate and note was his distaste of the people who harmed them.

"Lucky for you," Tenzin seethed, "I don't employ the same tactics as bandits do. I don't rape women and beat children."

"I'm not a bandit anymore," The kid insisted, "And I never laid a hand on any woman or kid! Not ever!"

"Shut up!" Tenzin got to his feet so quickly that Kai scuttled backwards, a difficult task with his hands chained.

"Tenzin?" Korra's voice touched the man's ears before he did something he regretted, she then nodded towards the exit.

"And you! You brought this thing in here!" He shouted the moment they were outside.

"I didn't know he was a bandit."

"His kind are lower than undead!" Tenzin boiled. The few people left in their group collected around the encounter, including Opal, Mako and Bolin. No more than eighteen people. Two years ago there had been hundreds.

"He's what, twelve? Thirteen? Whatever he did with those bandits shouldn't determine who he will be."

"You disobeyed a direct order."

"You and I both know you haven't been calling the shots around here in a long time," Korra looked around at the group's faces. They all looked so grieved and damaged. Most had come with families, friends, and lovers. Most had come with children. The undead had been a cancer to everyone leaving not a single family or friend untouched.

"I'm still in charge," Tenzin asserted.

"Of what?" Korra looked around, "A pile of empty canned goods and slumping fences? I tried to kill a boy today, Tenzin. I pinned him to the ground and tried to choke the life out of him." She reiterated, "A boy."

Korra turned to the group standing around her and announced, "That's why I'm leaving." More than a few gasped, "Listen, you don't have to join me. I don't expect you to." She turned to Tenzin, addressing the crowd but locking eyes with the man, "I know have never married. Nor have I had children. But I had a mother. And she tried to eat me. The undead don't care who we were to them or what we are to someone else. They don't care if we are grieving our losses. And just like the undead. winter doesn't care if we have wool sweaters or firewood. It doesn't care if we are too cold and tired to defend ourselves from the undead. They'll kill us both all the same.

"We all remember last winter. It was a nightmare. Burning bodies just for the warmth, beating the elderly to steal their blankets." She paused taking them back was so unpleasant, she allowed for a long moment of silence. "Come with me and we can fight the callous bastards of winter and undead together."

"I'm not interested in another failing leadership," Kuvira spoke up suddenly. Korra turned. Kuvira, ever lurky, creepy faced Kuvira came walking through the people. She hadn't even given the woman a second thought. Now she spoke, "Korra is an eighteen year old fool who will get you all killed before you can even reach the lake. But follow me and I can promise you food and safety. I have repaired several vehicles for transportation and outlined places that haven't been pillaged for food and water. So you can choose, drive to safety or hope you can march there before winter turns your knees to ice."

There was a shuffling silence. Broken families conversed with one another. Friends queried what the other would do if...

Finally the verdict came back and it was all but unanimous:

"Sorry, Korra,"

"She has transportation."

"I don't want to walk. Not if it's cold…"

Kuvira supporters took their stance alongside Kuvira. All but three people. Opal, Mako, and Bolin.

Even with the uneven divide between Kuvira and Korra, Tenzin had only one follower left: Lin Beifong, who had grown just as quiet and removed as Tenzin over these last few months.

Tenzin looked angry at first but then something came back over him. That look of depression. A look that asked 'what's the point?' He turned on his heels.  
Korra spoke after consideration, "And we're taking Kai with us."

Bolin stared at Tenzin on the bench. Tenzin watched his people leave him. His eyes traveling between the gate and the crumbled paper in his hand.

"Hey, Korra?" Bolin began as he adjusted the strap of a semi-automatic he now carried.

"Yeah."

"What's that paper in Tenzin's hand?"

Korra looked back at Tenzin, he was once again reading the crumbled up letter, "Pema, Tenzin's wife, would write handwritten notes to her husband and kids sometimes. I once read a note she wrote to Meelo it said, 'Your my handsome little man.'"  
Bolin nodded understanding, "What does his note say?"

Korra watched Tenzin's head dip, he covered half his face, and for the first time in a long time he allowed the tears to flow from his eyes, his shoulders shook as he fell into uncontrollable sobs. Sobs he stifled behind his weary hand.

Korra turned her gaze to her feet then responded to Bolin, "What do you think it says?"


	4. Bounty

Bounty

"These are my friends," Korra waved to her bound and gagged crew.

Pema handed her child over to Ikki then approached Kai. Grabbing him roughly by the collar she pulled him aside from the bunch before pressing her foot heavily into his back. With his arms bound he couldn't catch his fall resulting in him being slumped over face first in the dirt. Removing her foot, she snatched the tail of his shirt then hoisted it up revealing Kai's black ink tattoo, "You're friends with bandits?"

"He left that life." Korra began, "Those first few months... We all did things. He's just a boy though Pema."

"Boys can be savages, Korra."

Korra stood her ground, "Not this one."

"What makes you so sure?" Pema approached her and staring into her caramel colored eyes Korra could see she had changed just as much as Korra had.

She could see the story without having to read the chapters of the book. She could see the mother, alone, with three children and pregnant with a fourth in this god forsaken world. She could see the monstrosities she'd have to commit for the sake of her children. Korra herself had come well acquainted with the never-ending amount of moral sacrifices that came with protecting people. And she could see each moral compromise written between the lines of Pema's forehead.

Knowing this Korra continued, "Because he's been in my crew for the last ten months. He's proven himself. As a fighter. As a friend. As a member of my crew."

"Bandits lie like birds crow," Pema dismissed the sentiment. Pema crossed the distance between herself and Korra, two armed guards followed their leader, "Search them."

One man moved around Korra, he patted her down, one leg then the next, under her arms, and finally lifting her shirt to reveal her back. He pulled at the bandages Asami's careful fingers had applied.

"Hey," Asami said involuntarily, "It took me a long time to wrap that wound properly." Her shy eyes lingered on Korra's back a moment with her statement. When they finally pried away they found Korra's curious gaze on them.

Pema turned to the man who was about to start unraveling the bandages.

"Leave them," Pema decided.

He nodded and moved on to pat down Asami.

She watched the man like a hawk ready to break his hand if he touched Asami inappropriately. She was glad when he turned out to not be pervert and rejoined Pema at her side. Breaking his wrist would have been bad. A nice way to get shot by the thirty men currently aiming guns at her face.

A man came walking up to Pema, "We just got in contact with Amon. He'll will be here by first light."

"Good," Pema took a breath, "We have someone for them."

"What do you mean someone?" Asami asked.

Pema looked at the dark haired girl, "We'll be giving your bandit friend to Amon."

"You can't do that!" Korra protested.

"It's already being done."

"Pema, you can't be serious. He's just a boy!"

"Amon won't see it that way. He'll see that tattoo same as everyone else. The mark of a rapist and a killer. A savage who preyed on the weak when the world fell apart knowing no one could stop them." Korra's mind shifted back to one year ago. What had this woman gone through to make her so decisively cold towards all bandits?

Korra edged closer mustering her diplomacy, "You don't have to do this. Tell your men to stand down. Let us go and you'll never see us again."

"I do have to do this, Korra. Besides, knowing what they know, even if I gave the order - which I won't - my men would never stand down. That boy has a circulating wanted poster with his face on it. If Amon learns we had him and didn't hand him over, he'd wipe us all out. We have no choice." She stepped away, "I'll let you and your other friends go once they've-,"

"Kai." Asami interrupted. Pema looked at her curiously, "I thought I'd put a name to the twelve year old boy your about to have crucified."

"Crucified implies innocence." She nodded and three men moved forward with ropes, "Until Amon arrives you'll be our guests."

"Guests," Korra snorted looking around at the darkness lit with only a flickering campfire. They'd returned to where Pema and her trained miniature army had set up camp.

Metal wire walls kept out the undead. though for some reason this area had a lower population of undead. The fenced in area consisted of four large tents and several smaller once. All of it parted down the middle leading to, Korra assumed, Pema's tent. A small ways from tents, closer to the fences sat the cage Asami and Korra currently called home, "She's caged us like animals and called us their guests."

Korra kicked her crate violently. The man outside guarding her cast a look over his shoulder, rolled his eyes, snuck a swig of liquor then moved away from the tempered young woman.

Asami looked over at her cellmate and sighed, "Calm down, Korra."

"Calm down!" Korra grumbled, "I'll show Pema calm. I'll calm all over her face!"

"Right, well, while you're calming, want to let me in on whom this Pema is?"

"She's an old family friend. Though-," She turned and shouted to whoever happened to be nearby, "Pema is the worst friend in the history of friend-kind!"

Asami moved closer to Korra. The crate they were in was made of wood, though the lock keeping them inside was made of metal and chained around the door and the wall of crate. It couldn't have been more than five feet square, meaning the two were crammed inside practically on top of one another.

"Let me check your bandages." Asami said.

Korra shrugged her off first but was set with one of Asami's more pointed eyebrow raises. She relented and allowed the girl to help her work her sleeve off, "Look, I don't know much about Pema, but I know she is going to do what it takes to survive."

"Do we need to re-hash why she's the worst friend of all friend-kind?"

"No. I'm saying," Asami leaned closer to Korra, so close she could feel the rise and fall of Asami's chest against hers. She swallowed, her mind stuttering at how glorious Asami was up close, how surprisingly wonderful she smelled. How badly she wanted to kiss her, "We should do the same."

When Asami pulled back her raven colored pony tail seemed a little droopier and a few stray bangs covered her face. She'd removed a bobby pin from her hair and used Korra as a cover from any gaurds who might have been watching.

Crossing her legs and lowering her hands between them, Asami began fiddling to get the blunt end of the bobby pin free.

"You think you can pick it?" Korra whispered.

"Ever picked a lock with a dozen undead marching up a porch behind you?" Asami managed to get the blunt ends off the bobby pin and she opened the pin wide, "You learn how real fast."

With that she moved closer to the door and peered out, "We can wait till more of them go to sleep. Break out and find Kai. Until then," she looked back at Korra and smiled when she saw the praised expression on her face, "We wait." Asami's expression turned humored, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I was just…" She struggled to find the words and when she did she tried her best to conceal exactly the depth of what she was saying, "I think you're the most amazing person I've ever met."

Was it to soon to say that? Absolutely. Why was she saying it then? First because she'd wanted to say it since she'd first seen the other woman driving like she was in a video game. Second because in the apocalypse things happened quickly. People you cared about vanished quickly. Bolin had missed his chance to be with Opal and for the last month she'd seen him crumble to pieces. Taking up smoking and liquor. Taking less and less interest in guiding his inducted baby brother Kai. Taking up a quieter way of being as a whole. He hadn't fallen away out of touch like Tenzin, but he was just a step above. And though he improved every day she knew she would never get her best friend back. Not like he was before Opal.

Korra didn't want that to happen to her with Asami. She spoke slowly, part of her wanting Asami to stop her the other part wanting to say it before something happened to either of them and she wouldn't be able to, "You're clever. And elegant. And Brilliant. And sexy in the dorkiest way imaginable." Asami laughed at that and Korra wondered if her duplicitous words had convinced Asami that she was only making friendly small talk.

Korra crossed her arms and buried her chin in them, her legs propping her head up. Why had she chosen now, in a confined space to say that? Why not in an open space? Preferably one where she could run away if Asami didn't return her affection. One where she could say, "Whatever." And walk away with false indifference. She finished with a smile, "But mostly, you're brilliant. Asami, you're brilliant and..." She could have - no, probably should have said she was falling in love with her, but that would have been too much. And truly she didn't know if Asami was "that way" like Korra was. Instead she continued, "I want you to know I think you're amazing."

It hadn't been a confession exactly. More of a casual grocery list of characteristics Korra loved about Asami. So monotonous, so unceremonious, that someone might have tried to take that list to Wal-Mart. But even with the veil of casualness Asami had to have understood Korra was trying to say she was falling in love with her... right?

A few moments passed with Korra avoiding Asami's eyes and Asami studying the other girl. Korra focused on Asami's hands. She noticed they still had splinters in them. She wanted to pull them out. She wanted to touch her. But several seconds moved between them and Korra couldn't imagine touching anything on the girl without giving in to the primal instinct of kissing her. Finally, she whispered even quieter than before, "Say something."

"Korra," Asami searched for the words and Korra's heart began to skip, "It's just that..." She trailed off again, "Remember how I told you my group and I were caught in a migration? How none of them survived?" Korra could see the horror. See the undead coming for the group. And she nodded, "Among them," Asami's voice cracked, "Among them was my fiance, Iroh."

Korra's heart sunk into her stomach. How could she be so stupid? Of course Asami had had someone. Anyone with eyes and a brain would have fallen head over heels for Asami. And she'd just short of confessed herself to someone who had been engaged less than two weeks ago.

"I'm so sorry," Korra said quietly, "I didn't know." And she let the silence fall between them. She didn't trust herself to say anything. If she did it would come out sounding bitter or insensitive. She didn't blame anyone for being in love with Asami and she didn't blame Asami either. She just wished it didn't hurt so damned much that Asami didn't feel the same about her. That there was no way of competing with someone who was dead. And she was a horrible human being for wanting to.

Asami pulled aside the cage door and Korra exited quietly. Her foot was numb as it made purchase with the grass. Asami wound the chain from the cage lock around her hand.

Korra moved to the right of their guard with Asami behind her, each step taken with trepidation.

They'd seen Mako, Bolin and Kai taken to a second set of cages just around the corner of a smaller tent and into a larger one.

"I knew you'd get out. You're too determined not to."

Korra and Asami turned around slowly as Pema stepped from the shadows. The flickering camp fire now settled over her features.

"Pema, I don't want to fight you." Korra began. The guard doing a lack luster job of guarding now looked up at the voices.

"Hey!" He hollered.

"Then please get back in that cage."

"You know I won't do that." Korra responded.

"Then we don't have a choice."

Pema charged Korra as Asami went after the guard.

Korra's legs were like wet noodles beneath her having been in that damned cage all day. But she pound them into the earth bounding forward at Pema. Closing the last couple of feet between herself and Pema, Korra leapt, spreading her legs she hooked them around Pema's neck then using the carrying momentum she slung Pema towards the earth, tucking and rolling free of the woman when she felt Pema hit the ground.

Asami rushed the guard who raised his semi automatic to shoot. But he was too little to late. Asami snapped out the chain like a whip, wrapping it around the gun. With a mighty tug she ripped it clean from his hand. Eyes watching the weapon spin mid-air before dropping down, she caught the weapon in firing position. She clicked the safety off.

"Say a single word and I'll blow your brains out." She threatened menacingly. No back up had arrived, most were asleep. Their perimeter was too wide out to see the fight. If they could keep this quiet then they could break out without having to fight thirty well trained men. The guard clenched his jaw and Asami narrowed her eyes. Would he scream for help?

Korra grabbed Pema around the collar and thrust her to the ground for the second time. Raising her foot she trampled down on the woman's abdomen. "Oof!" the air was knocked from her body. Without taking time to absorb the pain, Pema reached in her jacket, removed her dagger and sliced through Korra's pants and to her flesh beneath. Korra jumped backwards, looking down at the steady stream of blood that filled her shoe. Pema pushed up from the ground and readied the dagger in her hand.

"Don't do that."

"I don't like guns."

"Trust me," Korra warned, "You won't like daggers either."

Asami watched the guard wondering what it would be. Then, his neck muscles tightened and his mouth parted to take in air as he prepared to call for help. By time words had begin to form on his lips Asami had removed the clip from the semi automatic with a click and sent the thick metal spiraling head over heels into his mouth.

The sound of cracking teeth against solid metal and a firm sickening pop touched Asami's ears. The bullet clip broke through his teeth and the force alone rocketed him off his feet and sent him flailing back. He hit the ground hard and cradled his face. His wail began slow, first quieted by disbelief then realization settling in his wide eyes. Blinking back shock he reached up to touch the bloodied broken mess that had become his mouth where his tooth had punctured his lower lip and his teeth had embed themselves in metal. Before he could cry out Asami finished him with a firm kick to the side of his head.

Korra smacked aside Pema's fist and landed her own in the eye of the woman. The impact sent shivers to Korra's spine and to her surprise Pema remained focused and countered dragging the blade of her dagger through Korra's retreating fist. The underside of her arm sliced open and began spilling blood. It wasn't deep enough to kill, but enough to make Korra rethink such self deprecating attacks. She grabbed the hand with Pema's dagger, distracted her with a backhanded open handed fist across her face then pried the dagger free. As Pema recoiled from the shock of the second blow of Korra's fist, Korra spun her around and buried the dagger in her back.

Pema gasped and sprawled forward reaching behind her as Korra kicked her legs out from under her. The woman fell to the ground.

Korra dropped atop of her then, her legs at Pema's sides and her hands tightening around Pema's throat. Pema's hands reached up to stop the girl from killing her and Korra turned her head as Pema's hand moved free of her neck and pawed frantically at her face. Pema would clearly lose this battle. Her eyes began to roll upward.

"Asami," Bolin sighed relief as his friend entered the large tent he and his brother had been kept in.

"Where's Kai?" Asami asked.

"He's not here."

She sunk to her knees and begun unlocking their cages.

Pema's hand searched the grass for a stone and came up empty. Desperately, she grabbed the fabric of Korra's shirt ripped the fabric off and with it the bandages. Without hesitation she drove her fingers into the wound, digging her nails through the poultice and clawing her nails through the injured flesh beneath.

Korra gasped as agonizing pain shot through her shoulder and extended to every corner of her body. Blood began spilling immediately around Pema's hand as she gouged in deeper and deeper still.

Korra's hands came from around Pema's neck and she yanked her shoulder free from the wicked fingers that had crawled inside her. The bandages soaked through in mere moments and Korra's vision blurred. Her mind began begging to be free of the unbearable pain. Meanwhile, Pema pushed the girl off. Korra breathed heavily but still couldn't catch her breath. Her body riddled with pain and exhaustion. Even with all her willpower she couldn't will herself back to her feet. Everything just hurt so much. Pema caught the shuddering young woman with an uppercut fist to her jaw.

Pema rose to her feet breathing ragged breaths and holding her red throat as she filled her lungs with much needed air, she said, "I didn't want to do this." She kicked the young woman in the stomach and watched her fall to the ground. Writhing in pain.

Korra's esophagus filled with something. Vomit. Her body didn't know how to compensate for the taxing fight.

"Then…" She swallowed her vomit and a mouth full of blood, "Then don't."

"Tell me you won't try and save your friend."

Shaking, throbbing, Korra lifted her defiant face, blood spilling out of her mouth she panted, "Do you think that's even a possibility?"

Pema moved around to the backside of the other woman. Her foot landed squarely in Korra's back and she pulled out a second dagger. She lifted her by her hair and exposed Korra's throat where she placed the sharp point of her weapon, "If you mounted a rescue mission I would be to blame for it. Amon would come here and wipe us all out. My children would die and…" She paused coming to terms with what she was about to do. She leaned in to Korra's ear and whispered the truth that had guided every action of their lives for the last two years, "We're just trying to survive, Korra."

She dug the dagger into Korra's throat. Korra gasped as her flesh began to part from the blade as it slipped through her jugular smoothly.


	5. Reunion Pt 1

Reunion Pt. 1

Pema's knife dug into Korra's flesh ignoring Korra's tired fingers that tried to pry the her off.

'Futile.' Korra thought. 'It's all so futile.'

Suddenly Pema stiffened and the knife inching across her throat halted. Korra's eyes trailed upward curiously. Pema's head had jerked back powerfully with a hard snap. A long arrow now sat extended from her throat like a birds perch on a cuckoo clock.

The clamor of approaching horse hooves filtered to Korra's ears as Pema raised her dagger, the pungent call of death not able to overpower her will to protect her children.

Kai nock a second arrow, aligned his shot and released the string. He winced as the string ricocheted backwards and skinned some of his soft flesh.

His arrow sailed true gently spiraling as it arched and embed itself in Pema's chest. The weight and velocity took her off her feet and lay her out on her back.

Pema coughed, sputtering as if she were trying to swallow the heavy flow of blood rushing out of her body. Hiccupping to a halt her gurgling ceased and her heart gave its hand to death. Korra knew the clock was still ticking. She'd simply fallen unconscious. Her brain would go on, dividing itself like a submarine as a last stitch effort to retain oxygen. It wouldn't be enough though.

Once that organ died she'd turn and become an undead.

Korra moved across the dirt on her stomach, her body too injured for her to even stand. Sloppily, feeling dizziness settle in, she stole the dagger from Pema's hand.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to the woman's wide eyes. Korra mustered her strength and jammed the blade into Pema's body. Her precision severed the bundle of nerves connecting the spinal cord to the skull and eradicated the possibility that Pema would become a mindless undead.

Again, she whispered to the woman her own consciousness fading, "I'm so sorry."

Korra jerked awake, her eyes hurriedly surveyed the room for danger.

She lay in a bed. Her fingers folded around the linen sheets that were so crisp to the touch. Looking down she wore a black shirt with a red gear, Sato Industries. In the corner was a rocking chair, and above her was a television. The first thing she checked was her arms.

Instead of metal cuffs she found an I.V. needle. She followed the connecting cord to the IV bag above her.

Looking outside she could see the sun was high.

What was going on? She pulled her legs over the side of the bed. Her body protested more from her legs feeling like noodles rather than her shoulder feeling like someone was driving a hot iron through it. Though there was undeniable pain in her shoulder it was nothing like before. Compared to that day in the cage - which had felt like a hot iron was being burned in her body - this was heavenly.

Wincing, she ripped the I.V. from her arm and threw the blankets aside. Looking down she could feel the bandages under her shirt. She wore black jeans and equally black socks.

Where was she?

She searched for the last memory she had and couldn't help but smile:

It was of Asami cradling her body. She could remember hearing horse hooves and the sound of guns firing rapidly. She could remember chunks of wood splintering from a tree as a bullet ripped through loose bark. She could see Asami jerking her head around to see the men chasing them before snapping her neck back around and urging the horse faster.

Then there was nothing.

She rose from the bed with difficulty. The angry burn of her lower abdomen was familiar, bruised ribs. Holding them tightly, she edged up to the door. Placing her hand on the handle she asked herself a question, "They didn't cuff me. Would they be stupid enough not to lock this door too?'

They were. Morons.

Quickly, she moved back into the room and flipped the chair on its side. It felt sturdy and hard to bend. Good wood. Looking around she took the sheet off her bed. Ripping away a good piece of fabric she wrapped her fist. In seconds she'd powered her fist through the wooden chair breaking off jagged and sharp chunks of wood. She wound a foot long sharp piece of wood with the cloth to avoid splinters and slowly edged back up to the door.

Tenderly, she opened the door, slowly poking her head around the metal frame. She peered down the hall one direction then the other. The soft carpet and warm colored walls were covered in a musky smell. Like someone had attempted to mask the odor of Clorox with air freshener. Glancing behind her a moment more she stepped into the hall her feet moving with careful curiosity.

She could hear voices to her right so she moved to her left. She needed to find her way out before someone found her. She needed to find her crew.

Kai. He'd be dead soon if he wasn't already. She needed to find him first.

And Asami. What if something happened to Asami?

She pushed away the thought and moved down the short hall faster than before. She turned the corner quickly taking in the doors lining both sides. A dead end to her left, she went right. Only a few doors were open but most were closed, and as she walked she peeked in each. They were empty. Neat and made up like the one she had just left.

When the door to her right opened and a figure began to emerge Korra didn't hesitate.

She grabbed the person by the collar of their shirt and dragged them up against the wall. Before they could even muster a call for help Korra had the sharp edge of the wooden leg to their throat and a deranged look in her eyes.

They spoke in unison.

"Where's my crew?"

"Korra?"

A smile broke out over the woman's face. It took Korra moment but she recognized the woman, "Suyin?"

Relief spread through her body. For only a moment before she remembered Pema.

"So what? You're working with Amon now?" Korra accused.

"What?" Suyin asked, "Korra don't be paranoid. We're against Amon same as you." Korra searched the woman's eyes for dishonesty. For a reason to consider her a threat.

After a long moment, she found no reason and released the woman though never loosening her grip on the jagged wood. She'd trust Suyin at arms length for now.

"Spirits, Korra," Suyin pulled away and took the young woman in, "I haven't seen you in a year. You're," she studied Korra's face, "So grown now. Beautiful." Korra kept her expression neutral. When people stab you in the back they tend to play on endeared emotions. Korra would give her none of those. She'd learned that from Pema at least.

Suyin could read her distrust and it brought a smile to her lips, "Come with me. I know someone who will want to see you."

With that Suyin began leading her back down the hall towards the voices she'd heard before.

Korra passed the room she'd left.

The hall emptied into a large recreation room with an old fashioned box television sitting on a long table, pictures of faculty and staff and a banner over a far wall reading, "Oasis Retirement Village."

They passed another hall and were brought to a large fancily carved door. Suyin opened the door and stepped aside for Korra to pass her.

With a curious look Korra entered the room. First she saw Asami sitting on a desk, her legs folded over one another neatly as she leaned down pointing her finger at a map. Relief flooded her as she looked at the beautiful woman. Safe. Unharmed.

Then she saw the man sitting beside her who had long tails of hair, some braided, others slipped into a pony tail. His broad shoulders and firm features so familiar that Korra needn't another moment of convincing that she was safe.

Both of them had looked up when Korra had entered and it was a moment before Tonraq fully accepted what was in front of him, "Korra?"

Though the room was large they closed the distance in fractions of a second and pulled one another into a tight embrace.

She inhaled his earthy scent of Hickory wood and a trace of sweat. She'd missed this, his firm embrace. The safety she found only in his arms. He leaned into the hug as she whispered the word into his chest a tear escaping down her cheek, "Dad."

"I'm here now." He replied.

She'd convinced herself she was an orphan. She hadn't realized how much that had weighed on her until this moment.

When they pulled apart she looked at Asami. She had fresh cuts on one cheek and a large greenish yellow bruise healed on the other. Her busted lip had scabbed over and closed. She wore a black shirt with a red Sato Industries gear. Looking down at herself she realized she was wearing Asami's clothes. This detail added a personal touch that made Korra want to blush.

Asami looked back at her with an appraising smile on her lips. Asami unfolded her legs and moved from the desk. Stepping closer Asami slightly bit her lip nervously.

Something strange had happened to her emerald eyes since she'd last been awake.

Iroh.

Korra's heart sunk to her stomach as Asami finished closing the distance and though Korra could think of nothing she wanted more than to hug the other woman she simply reached out and touched her forearm.

"I'm glad you're awake." Asami said crossing her opposite hand to touch Korra's hand with her cool fingers, "I was worried."

"You saved my life."

"You saved mine."

They smiled politely at one another and tried not to suffocate from the awkward encounter. Korra turned back to Suyin and her father.

And just like that she remembered Opal.

Korra's heart skipped a beat. How could she tell Suyin what had happened? Korra didn't even really know what happened, it had all happened so fast. They'd been attacked late at night. She'd been beaten over the shoulder with a metal crowbar and had a firm foot hit her in the face. The crew had managed to drive them off but when they did a head count Opal had been gone.

"Suyin, Opal-,"

"I know." Suyin cut her off.

"You-You know? How?" Korra asked.

"Come with me." Suyin nodded over her shoulder. This time there was only curiosity instead of mistrust. She followed Suyin.

Tonraq followed his daughter not ready to leave her presence.

"One month ago we found Lin in a cave. She said she'd gone there looking for you after you'd left her and Tenzin."

"Only Lin?" Korra asked, "What about Ten-,"

"He didn't survive winter."

Korra's feet stopped moving. He'd lost everything, even his mind, and now he was gone.

What had she done? She'd left him there. She'd left him knowing they would not survive winter. She'd basically killed him herself. And now Pema was dead too.

Jinora. Ikki. Meelo. Rohan. They were orphans because of her.

She outstretched a hand and stabled herself with a nearby counter, her legs felt weak beneath her.

Oh, Spirits, what had she done?

"I killed his wife." Korra admitted to her father, "I killed her."

Tonraq shook his head, "No, sweetheart. You were doing what you needed to do for your crew."

"That doesn't justify anything." Korra responded.

"You didn't shoot that arrow, Korra." Asami gently reminded her.

"After Tenzin realized his family wasn't coming back he didn't want to live anymore." Suyin frowned, "Hopelessness killed him faster than winter did."

In a few minutes they moved towards what appeared to be a greenhouse. Outside the greenhouse were several crops of corn. Korra eyed it hungrily.

A question came to mind then, "How long was I out?"

"Five days," Asami answered. Korra's eyes widened and Asami's expression softened, "You had me - us worried." She stared at Korra a little too long and the silence carried loudly, "I'm going to pull some weeds for the garden." She turned and walked away without another word.

As they entered the green house Suyin called, "Hello? I thought you said you would be out here..?"

An old woman shuffled forward from between rows of potted plants. The woman had short purposeful steps; her eyes were dulled in a way that told Korra she was blind. Over her shoulder stood another woman who looked just as ancient, except rather than housing deep frown lines like the former, this woman had kind eyes and softer wrinkles.

Korra looked between the women, "This is my mother, Toph Beifong and her old colleague Katara. Katara is a world renowned cardiologist. She's the one that brought you back from the brink of death."

Korra smiled appreciatively at the woman, "Wow. World renowned? Thank you."

"The pleasure was mine," Katara said with unwavering grace.

Suyin continued, "Katara was Tenzin's mother."

Korra's mouth went dry. She struggled to speak, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Katara nodded angelically and smiled softly at the young woman, "He spoke so fondly of you. He told me you'd been drafted for the WNBA. The way he boasted about your accomplishments you'd think he was the one drafted." Guilt consumed her. Katara must have read this in her eyes, "His death is not your fault, Korra. I don't blame you."

"I left him to die," her voice cracked.

"He died the moment he lost his wife and children." Katara allowed a tortured smile, "There was nothing you could have done differently that would have changed that outcome. But there is a life we still do have a chance to save."

"Whose?" Korra asked, "My crew?"

"Yes," Toph nodded, "And my granddaughter's."

Korra's eyebrows furrowed, "Opal? Opal is alive?"

"Yes," Suyin said then darkly continued, "But not for long."

"She was taken by the same man that took your friends." Tonraq added.

Korra grit her teeth and spat his name, "Amon."

"He's taking them back to the Walls." Tonraq said.

"The Walls?"

Suyin nodded, "Ba Sing Se. The last inhabitable city."


	6. Reunion Pt 2

Reunion Pt. 2

Some time later they had returned to the retirement home. Night had come and Lin had returned with fresh meat. Suyin's sons and a few other retirement home residents prepared the meal in the kitchen. The rest circled around a table in the living room.

It was odd having electricity for once. The retirement home ran on rationed gas allowing them to power most of the lights in the house and cook on the stove.

Lin was probing Asami's brilliant mind and Asami was amidst explaining logistics of wiring several explosives to the walls of Ba Sing Se, "Well, you don't want to make a large hole because doing so would probably result in the inner city being overrun.

Korra found herself sucking her lips. Why did Asami's propensity for cars and making things go boom turn her on? She hadn't felt that kind of attraction in so long she'd almost forgot what it felt like. Asami continued, "The good news is all those bombing has left the wall reasonably weakened and susceptible to even small bombs."

Korra felt eyes on her. Looking up she found her father looking between herself and Asami. She blushed as if he were telepathic.

"No." Suyin countered Lin who had led Asami down that line of reasoning, "We know Amon. If there is a hole in the wall he'll first defend the wall before he even tries to protect his civilians. Nothing matters to him more than keeping that wall. If that wall comes down he'll lose everything and he knows it."

"Maybe our concern shouldn't be with protecting people who follow a man that kidnaps children." Lin argued.

Now Kya spoke, "Bombs are catastrophic and needlessly violent. There are thousands of people within those walls. Children. The are only there to survive. If someone offers you a safe place where you and your family can live happily it's easy to turn a blind eye when your leader starts kidnapping people."

And just like that pandemonium broke out among them.

Korra looked around at the room a moment she glanced across the table. Her father had gotten into it with Suyin, then to Asami who was explaining to Kya that "Yes, explosions can in fact be small when calculated accordingly."

Korra closed her eyes before taking a deep breath and shouting, "Alright! Enough!"

Everyone got quiet as Korra lurched to her feet. She cast a look at Toph who had been the only silent party during the debate. Now she was smirking knowingly, "Neither of these plans are acceptable." She looked pointedly at Lin, "While I do like seeing things go boom we can't honestly consider a plan that involves potentially hundreds of people being chewed on."

"Exactly." Kya nodded. Korra turned a glare to her.

"But we do need bombs. If we're taking on Amon we need to bring everything we've got." Korra took a breath, "Besides. This is all about creating a distraction long enough to get in and get our people and get out, right?" A few heads nodded, "Well then you're looking at your distraction." A new rumble of voices began as they all asked questions.

"What do you mean?" Tonraq asked.

"I'm directly responsible for the death of one of Amon's highest ranking officials, Pema. If we want a distraction why not say we want to make a trade? Me for my crew."

"Korra," Asami's face filled with concern and when she said the girl's name Korra noticed her hand moved to touch her, but stopped when Korra looked at it as if it might kill her. Asami dropped her hand back at her side and swallowed, "That's insane."

"We're not making that trade or even pretending to make that trade." Tonraq firmly asserted.

"Tonraq's right," Lin agreed, "Amon would never hand over Kai."

"He doesn't need to take the deal he just has to consider it long enough for a strike team to get in the walls and find our people. Besides there's no other way we can get in and not cost people their lives."

"This battle is going to cost lives one way or the other," Toph suddenly spoke from the corner. The group all looked over at the woman who was peeling an orange with a knife and had her feet propped on a table. The old woman pursed her lips as she cut away an orange peel, "You'd all be fools to think it wouldn't. Which is why you need to ask yourselves are you really willing to go on a suicide mission for the sake of five kids? Not only that, but doing so will endanger this compound. After you take them, then what? Run and hide under a rock praying Amon and his thousand strong army don't find you?" The grumpy grandmother devoured a slice of her orange.

Everyone was quiet no doubt asking themselves if it was worth the potential fall out.

Tonraq spoke next, "This isn't just about five kids. Don't forget that. Amon took Opal. Why? Because he needs people to finish rebuilding that wall. Amon knows what Katara has been saying would happen all along: the second rings wall is too burdened. It sustained too much damage in those early days of bombing. That's why the entire lower ring was lost. He's patched and patched but he has to rebuild that wall before winter if he wants to survive."

"And he's using slave labor to do it," Kya added.

Suyin nodded, "We could ignore him taking bandits – they are after all murders and rapists. But the fact that he took Opal tells us he's become desperate. He's abandoned old principles."

Lin nodded, "He's no longer gunning for the outlaws; he's gunning for the innocent."

"We aren't strong enough to take him on. He's got thousands of men in his army and they're all well trained," said Asami, "But maybe we can find a way to not take him on directly."

Suyin turned to Korra, "You really think turning you over will create enough of a distraction for us to get inside?"

Korra nodded, "We get our people out there's nothing to stop us from taking the city. But if we take the city with our people inside, Amon will use them as leverage."

"So what are we doing?" Tonraq asked, "Are we saving the innocent lives, or taking Amon down?"

Korra looked around at the few familiar faces. Lin, Su, her father, even Toph. Finally she looked at Asami and found the other girl had been staring at her the whole time. Korra spoke, "Both. We're saving my friends and we're taking the city."

"Hey." Korra turned around on the balcony to find Asami. This was the first time Korra saw Asami in full on make-up and it made her that much more devastatingly beautiful. Korra must have been blushing something awful because Asami nervously took a few steps back, "I was hanging out with a few of the disabled elderly and they thought it would be fun to do makeovers. I might have gotten carried away."

Korra nodded, feeling her heart swoon, she grabbed the balcony's wood to steady herself, "No. Really. You look... great."

Asami approached her, "I brought you some tea."

Korra didn't look at the girl; if she did she'd never get rid of the attraction that had settled just below her stomach, "You're so sweet." She took the cup Asami offered without bothering eye contact.

"We're leaving tomorrow. Ba Sing Se is a three day trip." Korra sipped the tea and tried to be nonchalant, "Are you coming?"

Asami was silent for a moment, "Do you not want me to?"

"No!" Korra exclaimed turning to Asami. She looked hurt, "No, I mean 'yes.' I mean, 'yes I want you to come.' It's just-," Dammit. Why had she chosen this moment to look at Asami? Now she was stumbling to find her words and all she could think about was how great Asami looked. And how great Asami was. How smart. How graceful. How pretty. And without thinking she'd begun to push Asami's bangs from her face – and Wow! was her hair soft, and thick, and flowing. And why was her hand now touching the underside of Asami's jaw? And why did that send shivers down her spine and make her own pulse begin to quicken in her veins.

"Good." Asami took a step away from Korra. A step that might as well have put her on the moon because the moment she took that step a faceless name came to mind:

Iroh.

Then, as if breaking Korra's heart was some kind of pass-time sport Asami was talking about the faceless wonder, "You know when I agreed to marry Iroh I thought, 'He's brave and passionate'," Asami crossed legs and rest her weight on the guard rail of the balcony, "I said, 'Yes' because I thought, 'I'm never going to find anyone as kind and handsome as him. I'm never going to find someone who makes me laugh harder or smile wider'."

Asami smiled and shook her head; looking at Korra from the corner of her eye she said five words that made Korra's self-bashing fade away. Five words that erased any shame she might have felt about loving Asami. Asami formed them with such unmistakable ache, "And then I met you."

Korra watched her fall into meaningful silence, her eyes drifted down to Asami's lips, to her body where her jeans clung to every curve, where her shirt hung on her graceful limbs, how her back arched back just slightly and her shoulders pushed away confidently. She loved all of these things about Asami's body. She could easily list all the things she loved about looking at Asami, but she couldn't list the things she simply loved about Asami. There were too many. Every word Asami spoke became another reason Korra loved her. Every breath she drew took Korra's breath away.

That was new to Korra in a way that she couldn't understand.

Korra's mouth opened and closed as she tried to find what she wanted to say. And just as she went to say them asami cut her short.

"I'm not over Iroh," Asami continued and now she forced a smile. "Not yet. I loved him, Korra. I wanted to marry him. I'm not sure if I settled for him or if I truly adored him, but… I just want you to know I," Asami ran her fingers over the wooden balcony, "I want you to know you're the most amazing person I ever met." The words sounded familiar. They were five days old but fresh to Korra's mind. Asami turned a glorious smile on her. She quoted Korra directly then, "You're clever. And elegant. And Brilliant. And sexy in the dorkiest way imaginable." But her next words weren't a quote. They were the words that gave Korra life, "And that's why it's so damned hard for me to resist kissing you."

BA SING SE

Bolin could feel his brother breathing beside him and he even wanted to whisper to him a few questions that were nagging at the back of his mind.

Together they sat in a pitch black room with a putrid smell overwhelming their senses. No one said anything.

Suddenly a door was flung aside. Bolin shielded his eyes with his shackled hands as light flood in. For the first time in days Bolin could see his surroundings: a long opening with a bucket in the corner for relieving themselves and a low ceiling. Everything was made of jagged stone and rock. Across from them not even one foot away were women. They sat quietly as well, their bodies ravaged with hunger.

"Right row! Rise!" Shouted a guard at the end of the room. Everyone on his row rose obediently. They were shackled to one another by a long chain link making it difficult to resist the natural pull of everyone following the guard's command.

A small commotion began behind him.

"Holy shit," said a prisoner, "Is he dead?"

"Yeah. He was starving before he even got here." Responded a prisoner with bandit tattoos covering every inch of his body, "Don't worry I snapped his neck so he won't turn." Now Bolin knew what that putrid smell had been. It had been the smell of the man attracting flies. The smell of writhing maggots.

Shuddering he looked away before he saw something he couldn't un-see.

That's when he noticed a wiry framed woman. Her short hair matted to her head and her body caked in dirt. The clothes she wore were torn and her head hung low.

Sweat and dirt didn't matter. Her hair and clothes were irrelevant. Because the instant he saw her something in Bolin began to stir. A familiar emotion of adoration flooded his chest, "Opal…" he whispered before his chest became enchanted and inflated with hope, "Opal!" He bellowed. She didn't respond to her name though. She just lay there slump against the wall. unmoving.

Both Mako and Kai followed his line of sight to the starving young woman.

Bolin began tugging on the chains that wrapped his wrists and feet.

He'd have given anything to run into the arms of the girl he loved. Realizing how useless it was he stopped.

Bolin could count her ribs. He could see every hill of her sunken cheeks. They'd starved her just like they'd starved them for the past five days.

But it was Opal and she was alive. She was alive. The thought was something he wanted to sing. The girl of his day and night dreams was alive. She'd been sitting not even ten feet from him all along.

"Move! Now!"

They were forced forward and out the door.

The sun was blinding and Bolin could see where they were now. They were atop the walls of Ba Sing Se. He'd always wanted to visit the city where his father was born, but now he wished he was anywhere else.

The thirty men all marched across the top of the second wall. Looking down he saw the open mouths and unhinged jaws of the undead. Hundreds of them clustered to one part of the wall loudly inhaling ragged breaths like a cloud of white noise.

They were marched a small ways from the cluster before being instructed to stop.

Kai looked at Bolin, "What are they doing?" He asked. Both Mako and Bolin looked at each other. Bolin felt dread swelling in his stomach.

"How many?" One guard asked a bearded man with a clipboard. The slightly chubby man with bits of graying hair inspected the sheets, took a look over the side then looked at the men on the wall.

"We need to relieve a lot of pressure there. I think five to start." He responded.

Bolin looked at Mako eyebrows buttoned together, asking the question.

"Five!" Shouted the guard. Three guards stepped forward to the first of the thirty standing in a row. One undid the lock connecting him to the others while the other two watched him closely.

"Wait! Five of what?" Asked the prisoner confusion written all over his face. His eyes looked around in terror, "Five of what?" The guard forced him along a few steps down the wall. Mako looked down at the undead then back up. Something registered on his face.

"No." he said in disbelief then looked to the man with brown hair and blue eyes who now plead the bearded man to tell him what was happening, "Five of what?" He kept asking, "Five of what?"

"No." Mako said again under his breath. Bolin looked at his brother about to ask if he would mind letting him in on what the secret was.

But before he could get the words out the guard shoved the prisoner over the side of the wall. The structure had been build with a wall surrounding the sides, knowing this the guard had been forced to hit the man with extreme force to send him overboard. His body cartwheeled head over heels and he screamed as he went plummeting down. When his body hit the earth, it did so with an anti-climatic Thunk. The man's blood ejected from the top of his skull and he crunched into a mangled mess below.

One or two undead looked over at the man's body then continued pawing for those atop the wall.

"Damn." The man with the beard said, "We might need to do more than five."

The guard nodded and begun removing the shackles from around the second man's feet.

The second man still hadn't registered his own disbelief and his mouth still hung ajar. It wasn't until his feet were undone that he realized that he was the next in this game of Humpty Dumpty. Unlike the prior man this man bore tattoos up and down his body.

This man was a bandit.

The bandit clenched his jaw and glared at the guards. He moved silently with the guard up to the edge, keeping a tough expression.

"Bandits don't beg for mercy," Kai chanted a revered mantra of bandits.

Bolin chose that moment to start shaking uncontrollablely. What was he witnessing?

"Oof!" The bandit was pushed over the side of the wall. He plummeted, and Bolin couldn't bring himself to watch.

A few moments passed before the anti-climatic sound of -

Thunk.

Then a pause of silence before another sound reached beyond Bolin's averted eyes. The sound of undead feasting on the fresh body. A dozen undead began to refocus. They moved from their cluster to the new meat and began to feast.

"Good." The bearded man began recording data on his clipboard, "Twelve more should do it."

"No." Mako whispered.

Bolin looked up then, he looked over at his big brother and past him. He counted heads quickly.

Mako was head number twelve.

He closed his eyes and preyed they would only need eleven.

They were told to move along. A few yards later another man was taken from the line of men atop the wall. He plead, threatened and bartered, but none of this prevented him from being thrown over the side.

Thunk.

"Don't worry, Bo," his always protective big brother said calmly, "It'll be okay."

"No it won't," Bolin called him on the lie.

A few more yards and another man was sent screaming to his grave. His head smashed against the wall on his way down and he hit the ground closer to the wall than the others.

Thunk.

"When Korra comes," Mako began, "She'll break you guys out. Make sure you get Opal. She doesn't look too good."

"We will," Kai promised.

Thunk.

"There's a weapons armory, I saw it on my way in. It's got everything; guns, knives, I even saw some bows and arrows. It's on the far east side of the wall. If your backs are against the wall and you need weapons, it's your best bet."

Thunk.

"Shut it!" Commanded a guard. Mako leaned back from where he'd begun mostly addressing Kai. He eyed his brother.

Bolin couldn't take this. He had barely been able to stand losing Opal. Now there was a chance he could get her back. But he was going to lose his brother.

Thunk.

He didn't know if he could handle that. They shuffled onward across the top of the wall. He had to say it; he knew he needed to because it would be the last time. But each time he went to all he could hear was a woman's voice. Maybe his mother's. Maybe an hallucination. But a woman was dying and she was saying to her beloved child, "It's okay. mommy loves you, Bo." And Bolin couldn't bring himself to say those three words.

Thunk.

Doing so would make this final. He looked at his brother. His black hair and good looks. His serious face and long limbs. They'd survived together for so long. They'd survived their parents' death when they were children. They'd survived foster care going from one abusive home to the next. They'd survived being in a gang together and the wrath of an angry drug lord. They'd survived two years in a goddamned apocalypse together. And to end it all atop this towering wall… it just seemed meaningless. It seemed wrong.

Thunk.

"Mako." Bolin hesitated.

"I know." His brother clenched his fists as the man beside him was removed from chains. The next victim began praying. And when he was taken aside that's when he began sobbing.

"I love you." Bolin said even though his brother had already said he knew so.

Thunk.

Mako allowed his hand to find his little brother's, "I love you too. You'll get through this, bro. Just wait for Korra. She'll come back. She always does."

A guard came to remove Mako's shackles and as he did Mako flashed a witty smile to his brother. Suddenly he was back on the steps of his new foster family with their social worker. Mako's arm was in a cast from when her'd stepped between a belligerent drunk and Bolin. Suddenly he could hear the social worker ringing the doorbell of the new hell she'd be leaving them with. His eight year old brother flashed a smile, "Take a breath, Bo. Everything's gonna work out just fine."

The guard undid the shackles around Mako's feet and moved him aside. Mako looked over to his brother and said quietly as if it were only the two if them on the wall, "Take a breath, Bo." He then looked forward, resigning to his fate with more dignity than any of the men preceding him, "Everything is gonna be just fine."

But Mako was lying. Just like he had been on that doorstep all those years ago. Fine isn't going hungry when your foster parents decide not to feed you. Fine isn't watching your brother fall to his death. mako stepped forward, set his jaw and waited for the push. he waited for the Thunk. Bolin looked away, he couldn't see... didn't want to see...

"Wait!" Kai exclaimed. The guard ignored him, "There's a dead prisoner! Take him! He's already dead!"

Mako's eyes widened with realization and though Kai had made the cry out of desperation, Mako was able to quickly asses the logic.

The guard made a motion to push him over the side but Mako darted to the ground, slipping his back up against the slightly raised wall. He extended his chained hands to the now angered guard.

"It's in your interest," Mako argued looking not at the guard who snapped out a baton to bash his skull in, but at the bearded man in charge, "The longer he's dead the less he's worth to the undead - they like fresh meat. It's a waste of the effort it took you to get him here if you let him rot." His words had spilled out so fast he wasn't sure if the bearded man had understood them. Slightly winded Mako waited hoping the words would register.

The bearded man took in the pure desperation in Mako's eyes. Slowly his eyes shifted to the prisoner's behind him. One after the other in search for this supposed dead prisoner.

Sure enough there he was. His corpse had been dragged out by the prisoners. His wrists broken from his own weight tugging on them as he'd been dragged along.

The bearded man's cold eyes calculated for a moment before he relented and nodded.

The guard re-did the locks on Mako's chains then moved towards the dead prisoner.

Bolin let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Mako had always been forced to be the strong one. It was how they'd survived even before the undead. Now it seemed all of that pressure he'd carried had bubbled over. He broke and his eyes became glassy as he drew in a sharp breath to withhold his sobbing.

When they were returned to the dingy dungeon they'd been taken from his brother fell against the wall, all of it crashing down on him for the first time and he allowed the tears to flow. Bolin knew Mako wasn't crying because he'd almost died.

He was crying because it had all meant so little.

Because he'd been surviving for as long as Bolin could remember. He'd survived the horrors of foster care. He'd survived running away with his brother at fourteen and twelve. He'd survived going to the juvenile detention enter for four years. He'd survived the first and second winter of the undead apocalypse and battled his way through swarms of undead. And all of that struggle and suffering had been worth what to the universe?

Being flung from a wall.

So Mako cried like he hadn't been allowed to do all these years surviving.

Regardless, worse than the possibility of death was its certainty and Bolin knew that if Korra didn't show up soon, Mako would be the first to die.


	7. Vulnerability Pt 1

Vulnerability Pt. 1

A YEAR AND A HALF AGO

She couldn't-

She grunted. She couldn't move her toes. She moved forward by sheer fear of death, resting her weight against the shoulder of a younger boy.

Behind them undead oozed from the homes of the suburban city. Housewives in pink now stained with blood. Children with bicycle helmets now limping on broken limbs.

She saw all of this but didn't process it. Her mind kept returning to the simple fact that she couldn't move her toes. She couldn't move her foot.

She hadn't realized it had been broken when she took the fall. She'd gotten up only to have it give out from under her.

And now she relied on this boy to support her weight as they hobbled free of the suburban home. They had to reach the small convoy they traveled with outside the gated community. It was a small distance away, but when you are cradling someone with undead advancing on you like the magma of a volcano then that distance might as well be several hundred miles. Matters become worse when you knew you'd have to climb a fence to get out of the gated in homes.

The young boys father watched his only son work to bring the injured woman to safety. He watched the undead advance on them once they reached the fence and came to the real challenge: how would he get the girl over the fence?

Suddenly he father began to instruct the boy. He instructed him as she would have the moment she'd seen her ankle gave out.

"Leave her! Son, you have to leave her!" The boy's father instructed.

"Dad, I-,"

The boy looked over at the young woman. He looked to his father. His face torn as the undead closed in.

Some of the convoy began pulling away, most of them not able to see any way out except for the obvious: leave her.

"I'm so sorry." The boy said. He leaned over. Shrugging the woman off his shoulder and onto the ground, he began climbing the fence.

His father embraced him once he landed on the other side of the tall fence then shoved him into the car and shut the door, "Go!"

She listened to them leave, their accelerating wheels kicking up a dustbowl around her, not daring to look because doing so would cause her to cry.

She didn't want to cry.

Nor did she want to die.

But there were two dozen undead and only one her, with a broken ankle and only four bullets to her name. She was going to die here abandoned, alone.

With effort she pushed into a seated position and took out her .45 caliber then aimed. Not for the undead. But placed the barrel against her skull.

Four bullets in her clip. She was sure of it.

She would only need one.

The first undead reached her within seconds. He dropped to his knees, extending his decayed fingers and placed them on either side of her face, unhinging his jaw and letting out an almost gleeful hiss.

She ignored him and settled on the task at hand.

She would only need one.

This was mercy. She could end this nightmare now. Just pull the trigger.

The undead's spittle dripped down her face. It's putrid breath assaulting her as he drew his meal into his mouth slowly, without a fight. A second undead arrived, hastily taking her thigh into his hands, lowering himself to the ground.

End it, she heard her thoughts say, end it before you're bitten. Don't become one of the. Don't turn.

But she couldn't. She turned the gun to the real enemy and felt satisfaction when she heard two reverberating cracks.

It cost her two of her last four bullets.

She would only need the one…

The third undead pounced, jumping on top of her. His hand clamped down on her armed hand, his legs weighing heavily atop her good ankle as he pinned her to the ground. He turned his head and unhinged beginning to sink into her. She took a breath, knowing what needed to be done. She slipped her one free leg up between their bodies then using her broken angle she kicked him off her body.

The world dimmed as an unholy amount of pain spiked from the nerves in her ankle and traveled to her brain. They all screamed at her to never ever do that again. The undead recoiled and launched himself. He was met with a small half foot knife impaling the side of his head and bringing him to the ground.

Without waiting for her to recover, two more undead arrived simultaneously. She only needed the one bullet. She blasted the closest of the two and rolled aside quickly to avoid the third. He fell on the ground beside her, his momentum to much for his rag doll limbs to catch himself. Looking over at his ever quick pray, he opened his mouth and hissed. She landed two quick, firm jabs in his eye socket, each time feeling his skull cave beneath her hand.

One bullet, she thought. I only need the one.

She was charged by three undead.

The first unhinged at her foot. He was stronger than most others. He pulled his meal into his mouth, grabbing her broken ankle and pulling it off the ground. She screamed as he went to consume her. it was like they understood it was he weakness. She hesitated, the pain excruciating. She could put herself down. it would be her last chance. Or she could kill the motherfucker. She raised her gun and fired.

His body jerked aside, dropping to the ground heavily.

She stifled a scream as her ankle made contact with the earth. Why had she done that? Why hadn't she blown herself away?

The second and third attackers were on her so quickly then. She grabbed the first by his arm. It was waterlogged and slipped clean from his body. She extended her knife, cutting his hamstring. Bringing him to a height she could handle him from. She grabbed him by his water logged neck. With a balled fist around her knife she punched through his neck. The watery mess snapped and splatter her in his watery blood and heavily decayed insides.

All of this took just moments too long. The second undead arrived and nestled his head into her stomach. She saw him moments to late. She shut her eyes readied for his teeth to sink in. her luck had run out.

She kenw what came next. She's witnessed it a thousand times before. She would now get to see her insides be turned outside, to watch her own body become the lifeless meal of the undead.

She'd become an undead.

She wished she had another bullet.

She opened her eyes, expecting to see her body being devoured. She expected to see the clammy grayscale skin of an undead as it crammed her warmth into his mouth. Instead she found the reflective surface of a sword slicing through the air spinning ferociously as it sent the undead reeling back from it's pray. She saw the beast split open from its navel and up to his jaw.

The sword belonged to a woman with dark silver hair and green eyes that concealed a frightening amount of intelligence. Her moves were smooth as if she weren't battling and onslaught of undead but dancing to a song that the younger woman found herself wanting to hear.

She worked two broad swords in her hands, catching an undead and burying her blade into its stomach. She twirled around his body, using her second broadsword to slip the corpse from her blade with fast work. She cut down a second undead in the same motion, using her momentum to remove its head from its body then redirected her motion into disemboweling a third and cutting the legs out from under a fourth.

She watched the strange woman moving, she couldn't take her eyes from her graceful measure. She didn't even hear the two boys cut away at the fence with massive clippers. She only felt them when they grabbed her arms, and for a moment she'd feared the worst. But when she looked up at the two similar faces she felt relief in that they were human. Together, they lifted her off the ground.

They put her into a car then turned to the woman fighting so valiantly to hold off the undead. "Mom!" They called in unison.

The woman glanced at the two twin boys, finished off the undead she'd run her sword through the mouth of and retreated to the car, hustling through the break in the fence and leaping into the backseat of the car, "They're gonna take this fence down. Go! Go!"

Tenzin stood over Suyin. He extended a canteen then made a nodding motion to the younger woman, "How's our patient?"

"Her ankle is broken. I can't tell you much more than that without the proper equipment. Even if I could, we don't have the proper materials to make her a cast."

Tenzin sighed with exasperation, "Make a list and we'll have them start searching for the things we need." He looked over at the young woman who had endured so much that day. Realizing she could very well hear the conversation - they were after all in the same tent – he spoke to her kindly, "You just do your best to recover. With Suyin, you're in great hands." He then exited the tent his voice carrying from outside the flap as he shouted, "Meelo! Get down from there!"

Suyin turned back to the young woman who reclined her head against the elevated bed she lay in. Her head was slightly inclined and rest against a tattered pillow. Suyin hadn't cleaned the woman's bloody face because like everything Su offered the woman had refused. She'd refused a bath. She'd refused Ibuprofen. She'd even refused Suyin's offer for an examination. Now she refused to make eye contact.

"I'm sorry." Suyin said some time later, "I'm sorry your group left you behind like that."

"They owed me nothing."

Suyin peered at the woman, "You deserve to be treated better than that."

Quietly she whispered, "No. I don't."

Suyin didn't react to this. She simply moved to a small tub of lukewarm water and began dipping a towel.

As water was strained from the fabric she spoke, "When you were on the ground with a dozen undead coming to make a meal of you, you didn't curse those who had left you behind. And all those years ago when the people who were supposed to love you instead broke and abandoned you, you didn't allow it destroy you."

The woman looked at her sharply then. Her eyes squinting, was her history written so plainly on her face? She worked so hard to keep her face neutral and passive. But this woman had read her as if she'd written the pages of a book on her forehead.

Suyin continued, "Just like back then, just like today you aimed your weapon and you fought back. You didn't ask for a savior. You saved yourself."

She made her way to the woman's bedside. The woman's eyes had become glassy and she turned them away hoping Suyin hadn't seen.

Suyin snatched her jaw allowing her fingers to press into fresh wounds, "Whatever they did to you is done. You can't change it and you're never going to fully recover from it. It's not fair. But women like us who are born with odds stacked in favor of our enemies, we always choose to point our guns at the onslaught. Even when it's easier to put bullets in our own brains." She placed the damp cloth into the woman's line of sight and spoke again with gravel inflection, "Now clean your damn face and stop wallowing in self pity. Women like us don't get to be vulnerable, Kuvira. Not anymore."

PRESENT

Korra wasn't sure when it had happened. Only that it was some time after her reaching for her water bottle at the same time Asami had reached for hers. Some time after Asami jerked her hand away. Somewhere between that moment and what followed next something had changed.

Korra had clenched her jaw, leaning away from Asami the best she could in the confined space of the vehicle. She'd crossed her arms and pouted. But it hadn't been enough. She was still pestered with questions. Why had Asami told her she felt romantic feelings for her if she were just going to become so unbearably awkward together? Why not just leave her emotions unreciprocated until she was sure that she wanted to be in a relationship?

These thoughts crashed through her mind so quickly that she had just barely caught the way Asami had begun biting her lip. She'd come to understand that look. It meant Asami was thinking about something and Korra, had come to consider this face Asami's sexiest - which was saying something considering how irresistible she found Asami in the first place.

She kept one hand on the steering wheel and reached out the other closest to Korra. Asami's fingers found their way to Korra's balled fist and her cool fingers pried Korra's hand free of her folded arms before intertwining with Korra's abnormally warm and calloused hands.

Asami smiled despite herself as her cheeks steamed through dark and darker shades of red. Korra's breath caught in her throat as she indulged in how cool Asami's skin always felt next to hers. How smooth and soft.

"Korra," Asami said a while later. Korra had turned her seat, getting closer to Asami. Forgiving her for jerking away merely fractions of a second after she'd begun holding Korra's hand. Now Korra sandwiched Asami's hands with her fingers tracing them absentmindedly as she gazed at the raven haired woman. A term came to mind:

Whipped.

"Mm?" Korra asked.

"There's something you should know," She paused, "About Kuvira."

A different kind of uneasiness set in her stomach, "What about her?"

Asami struggled to say, "She surrendered."

"What do you mean?"

"Back at the camp, when you-," Asami broke off knowing Korra couldn't bare thinking about who she'd killed, "When the gunmen came she surrendered to them without a fight. Mako and the others fought back best they could so we could get away but Kuvira – she just surrendered."

She wanted to be angry but the simple truth was she was sadder for Suyin. Suyin had taken Kuvira under her wing. She'd pulled Kuvira's weight those first few months while Kuvira recovered. She taught her how to hunt better, fight better, how to endure longer.

Betraying Korra tainted one of the main reasons Korra put up with Kuvira: because Su had asked her to. Now Korra wasn't so sure Suyin would instruct the same. To continue to put up with the woman who seemed to break everything she touched was one thing. But when the woman started breaking things intentionally that was another.

Korra took back Asami's hands in hers, trying to rid herself of the unpleasant thoughts.

She began tracing the scars in Asami's hands. She still had splinters under her skin in some places, and the biggest ones had left scars. Now it was Korra's turn to nibble on her lip and wonder if Asami would be completely opposed to her kissing her finger tips.

"Amon should be here by now," Korra grumbled popping her knuckles for the tenth time since they had arrived, "Are you sure we're at the right place?"

Asami tapped the map she'd splayed over the hood of the car, "Laghima Fissure." She tapped the map and pointed to the giant black crack that was supposed to represent the fissure. "It's the largest in this part of the world, Korra. We're in the right-,"

Asami cut short, her face twisting up as she stepped away from the map.

"You hear that?" She asked Korra. Korra looked at Asami inquisitively.

"Hear what?"

That was when Korra heard it. She swung her head around. She knew the sound. It seemed so natural for a different world. A world she'd left behind two years ago.

"Is that a– is that a helicopter?" Korra asked. Asami looked just as stunned and they both began looking to the sky for the flying vehicle. The sound became louder and louder until the sand dunes surrounding them in the vast desert terrain began being pushed aside as the helicopter swooped past.

Korra smiled unintentionally, she hadn't seen a flying vehicle in years. Then she thought who might be on said helicopter. Her smile faded.

Asami folded the map back up and put it away. She took up a stance over Korra's shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Asami asked.

"It's better this way. Less people will get hurt this way."

Asami looked like she didn't approve. No one had. Not when Korra said she'd be turning herself over to Amon. Who knew what the man had in store for them. And when she'd radioed he'd requested they meet a few miles from the walls.

There was no turning back. Korra would have to give herself up then find a way to get her and her friends out. Asami of course was the best backup she could ask for.

Her clothes whipped back against her body. Her short hair sent pushing back as the helicopter slowly descended.

She waited to meet the man in charge of the last inhabitable city. Her jaw set, her expression blank.

Once the landing skids had made contact with the earth the door remained close for a few moments.

Korra waited. The doors opened and a man stepped out.

He was tall and lean, his body built with muscles. He wore his hair in long braids down his back and docked two guns at his hips with a machete secured to his back. He was followed by none other than Kuvira herself.

Korra tensed at sight of the woman. She'd been expecting it, but the reality still hurt. The betrayal still broke her in a way she hadn't expected. In a way that made her want to scream, "After everything you chose this?" And though the pain in Korra's heart was sharp she'd expected it.

Two guards followed Kuvira and the man she assumed was Amon.

They were quickly followed by a fifth and final man.

A man with a scruffy graying beard and small wire glasses perched on his wide nose. A man with hard maroon colored eyes that saw everything in vivid detail but seemed callous towards all human life.

She felt Asami stiffen beside her the moment he exited the helicopter.

His maroon eyes first found Korra; he took her in making no effort to hide how unimpressed he was. Eventually they traveled to the other woman.

His eyes widened in his skull, his pale lips parted and closed.

His expression softened and he tenderly said his daughter's name, "Asami?"

Korra hadn't expected that. She'd expected so much – Amon being every bit as intimidating as the reputation preceding him. Kuvira being every bit as passive and cold faced as ever. She'd even expected the fancy turn out, more in a convoy fashion than in a helicopter, but still. What she hadn't expected was for the woman of her dreams to reply with a tender tone she'd never heard before, "Dad."

Korra rationalized that everything - Kuvira, Asami's father, even the helicopter -had been done to rattle her. Congratulations, she wanted to say as the woman she loved began to hug the enemy, she was rattled.

When Korra looked back she found Amon's eyes intent on her.

She feared him. She feared the way his face was covered in war paint and was beyond recognition. She feared the way his small eyes moved just before she did like he was two steps ahead of her. She feared the way he could turn Pema into a woman she hardly recognized. She feared the power he had by being the head of the last inhabitable city.

Mostly, at that moment she feared that he had Asami's father on his side and what that could possibly mean for the crew and, if she was honest, what that meant for her and Asami's relationship.

But her fear meant nothing right then. It wasn't something she could sell or trade with. And it certainly wouldn't save her friends. So she beat it down best she could, grit her teeth and set her eyes.

Asami hadn't even embraced her father for all of two seconds before Korra was in Amon's face. She turned her chin up at the man who had a good foot on her, setting him with her most deadly expression, "Where the hell are my people?"


	8. Vulnerability Pt 2

Vulnerability Pt. 2

7 MONTHS AGO

Winter had begun leaking from the trees in piles of cascading snow. With each passing moment Spring nudged winter further and further aside but Kuvira couldn't help but fear the cold, even as it made a retreat.

Korra placed a cup of tea in front of the shivering woman. Korra herself looked strong as always. Her clear blue eyes leapt through the caves' shadows and announced safety in a world that had so little left.

Korra saw the holes in her shoes, the unraveling threads in her dingy jacket. Korra saw the way Kuvira's knees knocked; the way hunger gnawed muscles till all that was left were hollow bones. She saw this and gently placed her hand behind Kuvira's head, slowly tipping the tea into her mouth. Kuvira had once been too proud to accept such pity. But the truth was she felt too weak to resist.

A large fire warmed the cave and Korra had surrounded her with warm blankets. She hadn't been here long but she knew they were a well oiled machine. Doing what needed to be done and doing so somewhat happily.

None of them looked hungry. None of them had frostbitten fingers. Nor had witnessed hungry animals pick off their friends. None of them had seen the underbelly of winter as Kuvira had.

Korra lowered herself into Kuvira's view, placing her sturdy back against a cave wall and laying her forearms across her knees. She had one question:

"What happened?"

Kuvira looked at the woman, whose eyes shined with hesitant curiosity, she searched for a way to describe what she'd witnessed. How they'd toed the line of savagery so closely they hadn't realized when they'd crossed it.

The words came painfully like the cold against her emaciated body, "Winter turned us into savages. It turned us into…" The words hung in their air. She closed her eyes and said them aloud, "It turned us into living undead. It turned us into cannibals."

3 DAYS AGO

Suyin's words came as they always did, direct and unhampered, "Amon will never trade you for your friends."

"I know."

"So why are we going to meet him?"

"We're not going to get hostages. We're going to make them." Korra stood outside the retirement home. The cars had been pulled around and she hoisted guns or all sizes and calibers into the trunk, "No one in Ba Sing Se wants Amon as their leader. not since he started rounding people up and dropping them from the wall. We remove him from the equation we can take the city easily."

"The people might not agree with him but his military does." Lin reminded her.

"That's why we need these explosives." Korra pointed to the quick work of home made explosive Asami had put together in a night long project.

She could still hear Asami on the balcony. She replayed it over and over in her mind. Those word from Asami's lips, 'And that's why it's so damned hard for me to resist kissing you.'

Suyin awakened her from the thoughts, "We can ride to nearby settlements. They've also had their people taken by Amon and they've already offered support if we choose to mount an attack."

Korra nodded, "When I meet Amon, I'll take out his guard and whoever's with him then take him hostage."

"Korra, there might be more than you can handle alone." Tonraq admitted.

"She's not going alone." Korra turned to Asami as she approached, "I'm going with her."

"No." Korra shook her head, "You're too valuable to the operation. We don't have a better mechanic or explosives guru."

"My skill will be no use to you a thousand miles away. You know I can hold my own in a fight and I was at the compound last week so my face will be familiar." Asami crossed her arms and raised a Try-Me-If-You-Dare eyebrow, "I'm coming."

PRESENT

Asami hadn't even embraced her father for all of two seconds before Korra was in Amon's face. She turned her chin up at the man who had a good foot on her, setting him with her deadliest expression, "Where the hell is my crew?"

"Korra," Amon shook his head back and forth, each of his words so deliberate it sounded almost drawn out, "You didn't think I would trade a bandit and his two companions for you - someone of no real consequence." A guard stepped from Amon's side. He removed the visible weapons Korra carried. Two guns, a machete ad two daggers. He passed them all to the two guards who remained inside the helicopter.

"I killed Pema."

Amon smirked, "Barely."

"Dad," Asami whispered her voice thick with emotion, "How are you here?" she buried herself in his neck allowing tears to slip down her face, "How did you find me?"

Her father pulled back from Asami and extended a green pendant. Korra recognized it from what felt like lifetimes ago. She'd seen it first time she'd met Asami and coincidentally the first time Asami saved Korra's life.

The medallion attached to the broken leather chord was flat and round. The back made of metal and the protruding from was a ground green stone surrounded by smaller red stones. Asami took it with sheepish fingers; a new emotion fell over her face.

Grief.

Korra watched the woman she'd fallen for as she pulled her father into another hug, "You left it at Pema's compound. When I saw it I knew it was the one that belonged to-,"

"Mom." Asami finished.

Both Amon and Korra watched the encounter. Korra finally spoke, "This was never about a trade. You just wanted me to bring you Asami."

"That's not true." Amon responded coyly, "This trade wasn't just about Asami," suddenly his playful tone turned acidic, "It was about vengeance."

Asami had removed herself from her father's arms and slipped the necklace around her neck. At 'revenge' she took up a horrified expression, her mind finally remembering what this was supposed to be. The plan. But Korra could sense things had changed the moment Hiroshi Sato stepped free of the helicopter.

That was Amon's plan.

Amon's eyes trailed to Kuvira who had taken to looking anywhere but Korra's eyes. "She told me everything I need to know about you, Korra. Strong willed, resilient, clever. She told me about your tendency to mistake foolishness for bravery and surrender for cowardice."

"It is cowardice," Korra said more to Kuvira than Amon, "When you have just as fair a chance by standing your ground and fighting."

Amon had begun making a small deliberate circle around Korra like she was an animal at the zoo. He left no part of her unobserved.

"That's all you do, Korra. Fight, fight, fight." He shook his head and came to a stop in front of her, "Do you know the single greatest difference between you and Kuvira?" Amon suddenly asked.

"Why don't you enlighten me, Lord Snooty."

"Of the two of you, Kuvira is the only one who's going to walk out of this desert, alive."

Amon's men didn't need a signal. Tone was enough. One guard drew his long machete, shooting forward faster than the other. He swung for Korra as she took a few stumbling steps back from the blade. Her head swungg to Asami who had chosen this moment to freeze up. "Asami?" Korra asked. This moment to stand at her father's side as Korra was prepared for slaughter. "Asami," she almost wept for the second friend to betray her in hours of need.

Together Korra was sure they could take them. Alone, with Kuvira, she wasn't so sure. She reached for her own machete then remembered she'd been frisked and disarmed.

Kuvira and the two other men closed in ranks around Korra. Kuvira held two daggers in raised fists, the man directly in front of her a machete, to his side a man holding two machetes.

The first to attack was the man in front of her. He stepped in with a wild swing, his legs too far apart, his body too over extended. Korra ducked beneath his blade easily ensnaring his arm in hers. She slung him over her back tossing him up and over in the air. She removed the machete from his hand and trampled his head with her foot.

She'd lost sight of Kuvira, now she sensed her in her peripherals. She deflected two swift jabs from Kuvira's dagger then turned and snapped a kick to the second guard who had circled around, attempting to catch her off guard.

Asami watched the battle, her stomach knotting, "Dad." She fumbled to find the words, fumbled to earn anything but love from the only family she had left, "Don't let them do this."

Korra cried out as a machete made purchase on her calf and the guard reared back for a second attack. Korra tackled him then, slamming her right fist into his ribs, angling for his kidneys, then her left into his chest. He stumbled away but not out of reach. With a wide hard upward swing she cut him open from his navel to his neck. His shirt split open, his flesh unzipped allowing blood to surge.

'Kuvira,' Korra remembered just as Kuvira's dagger embed itself in her side.

"Gah!" Korra gasped falling forward a moment, and hunching over her knees. Kuvira gleefully removed the dagger, tugging at her skin and making the wound wider. Kuvira was too close, Korra realized as Kuvira leaned in to stab her in the back. Korra held the new knife wound with one hand, and with the other she gripped her machete and spun with frightening strength. Kuvira thrust her stomach away from the blade, narrowly avoiding a blow that would have her abdomen split in two. Korra backpedaled then, feeling blood ooze over her hand. She grunted and groaned.

Close up combat was Kuvira's specialty. Korra didn't want to get close to the beast.

"Dad." Asami continued desperately, "Tell them to stop. Please!"

"I'm sorry Asami. She participated in the death of one of our most prominent generals. There's nothing I can do."

Asami's body became racked with humiliation but more than anything sadness, "I participated in the death of one of your prominent generals! Will you have me killed as well?"

Mr. Sato's nostrils flared, "Asami, you were acting out of necessity. You are not a bandit."

"I was doing what was right. Korra saved my life. So did Kai."

Mr. Sato grabbed her wrist then, "No, Asami! You don't know what you're saying. You've been-," He looked for any option, any way to justify killing one but not the other, "You've been brainwashed!"

Clanking metal reverberated in the air as Kuvira began a fast assault. Korra kept her pace just barely. Korra slipped into defense rather than offense, she couldn't find a way in past all the jabs. She could only deflect them ad hoped Kuvira didn't have a longer stamina than hers.

Amon looked between the women, knowing the fight was a true coin toss. That Korra's passion matched Kuvira's will to survive. Knowing he didn't want to be there when the coin hit the ground. He climbed into the helicopter and looked expectantly for Hiroshi Sato and his daughter to join him.

"Dad," Asami's heart broke, "Please."

"I can't Asami," he yanked her arm forcing her towards the aircraft.

"Let me go!" Asami demanded. Hiroshi looked inside the helicopter where two more guards sat with guns between their feet. They didn't need any more instruction. In seconds they began violently strong-arming the woman aboard. Asami struggled, wrenching her body in their hands, but she came up empty against the three stronger men.

Korra heard Asami's cries of distress but Kuvira moved almost unbearably fast. Each step a preface to the other in a barrage of well timed disasters. One dagger going for her jugular. She'd slap the hand aside. Disaster averted. One to her stomach. She'd dodge. Disaster averted. but there always came another, just as fast. Just as deadly. She couldn't help Asami.

Korra began reversing her steps as Kuvira penetrated her defense.

She found herself traveling uphill backwards on a mound of sand, deflecting, dodging, swaying, returning one attack after the other until they all seemed to melt together like a dance between enemies.

Wind began picking up. Somewhere in her mind Korra registered the helicopter taking off.

Then the music changed, Kuvira had let her hear it, just long enough to begin a rhythm. Just long enough for her to catch Korra off guard when she broke that rhythm.

Korra's feet tripped over one another. Kuvira was atop her instantly. She brought a dagger down for Korra's head. Korra saw it coming only moments too late, moments before it was to penetrate her in the eye. She acted in desperation, catching the blade with her bare hand, wrapping her fingers around it tightly. Her fingers screamed, her palm screamed, as she held firmly to the blade. Her blood making her grip slick, she clamped down harder still not quite ready to lose an eye.

Asami became quiet. Her eyes watching the pilot flip one switch after the other. Watching the guards strap her in with a seat-belt and shut the doors behind them. Watching Amon settle his heartless gaze outside the window where Kuvira and Korra worked to kill one another. Watching her father stare at her wondering how he could fix her.

Always trying to fix her.

He smiled, "I'm glad you came to your senses."

If Hiroshi Sato had been with Asami these last two years he would have known his daughter only got so quiet when she'd made a decision and usually that decision ended with someone bleeding. She felt the helicopter lift from the ground.

She didn't remove her eyes from the window; she only allowed her hand to edge towards the belt buckle. She took stock of the guns held by the guards at either of her sides. She subtly checked if Amon's attention remained with the fight below and her father with ways of fixing her.

She was happy to see her father. Knowing he was alive gave her so much joy. But Korra could be dying at that very moment.

She undid her seat-belt and clutched it so tightly her knuckles felt like they might explode. She steeled her jaw.

Asami jerked into motion, twisting her upper body; she rammed the belt into the throat of the guard furthest from the door. before he'd fully registered and cried out she struck again this time taking his eye and quickly dropped the belt dirtied belt. It snapped back trailing blood across the passengers. The second guard barely had time to react before Asami took hold of his head and smashed it against the helicopter's window leaving bloodied cracks in the thick glass.

Of the two remaining men in the cabin, Amon was the first to react. he was only moments late. Asami had already retrieved the guards gun and placed it to Amon's temple.

Her father's mouth hung ajar. She must have looked deranged.

She bit back laughter. He didn't know her anymore, she realized. She'd never really known him. Known he was capable of killing people without a question. Killing people she cared about. She wasn't someone he could bully into doing as he said anymore. He'd expected her to allow herself to be manhandled. He'd expected her to take it all lying down.

But that was never the Sato way. Sato's went after what they wanted. Her father had taught her that.

And right now she wanted to be with Korra. Right now, she wanted to save her friends.

"Let. Me. Go."

Korra took a fist of sand and threw it in Kuvira's eyes. As the woman turned her head, Korra scrambled away on her one good hand and knees. A small ways away she looked down at her hand. The pain was enough to make her want to scream. She struggled to her feet, raising her fists, only to find her opponents attention had been taken elsewhere.

It had been taken by a puff of orange dust swerving between sand dunes. The tires grind into the earth kicking dust and debris in a trailing cloud. As it drew within a few hundred feet Korra began to make out that it was a vehicle. The occupants narrowly dodged a large boulder.

That wasn't the view.

The view emerged from the tops of sand dunes.

The view marched through hundreds of miles of deserts and now marched directly at them.

A wall of undead stretching further than the eye could see, their bodies swaying unsteadily in the sand. Their heavy breathing droned together with the sound of propellers. Even hundreds of miles away Korra found her hand coming to her nose as a hard wind swept the putrid scent of decayed flesh and waterlogged guts her way.

The car trampled a small dune of sand. Or what appeared to be a dune. The moment its tires were midway through the car bounced upward. A tire popped and the carcass of another vehicle was unveiled, sharp edges scraped against the bottom of the car. The driver lost control and the vehicle span sideways into a log roll.

The car flipped on its side, stopping only when it collided with a taller sand dune.

The undead pounced at once. What looked like dozens of them began climbing atop the car. They moved to the windows, they banged on the windshield. They begged to get in.

Korra took two steps in their direction before Kuvira's hand landed firmly on her shoulder.

When she looked at the woman her eyes said something both of them had already realized. They were too late. There was nothing they could do.

The undead swarmed, one had managed to pry his hand through the windshield. Others followed suit.

The occupants were dragged out screaming, their bodies ripped by the glass on their way out.

She tuned away feeling her hands begin to shake. She turned away knowing that beneath the sound of the helicopter's blades turning loudly just above her, beneath the sound of a thousand marching feet and ragged breaths of the undead. Beneath that there were three people screaming in agony, calling to a cavalry that wouldn't come as the undead devoured their flesh.

Korra knew right then what it must have felt like. The horror Asami had endured that night in the woods.

"Migration." Korra spoke looking to the crumbled outer wall of Ba Sing Se, "And it's headed straight for the city."

Asami opened the doors of the helicopter, several feet off the ground. She looked behind her; she continued to level her gun to Amon. The pilot had brought them to a standstill. Not sure what he was supposed to do with a deranged woman pointing a gun.

"Asami, if you go out there," her father looked at the migration coming for them then to his beautiful disobedient daughter, "You'll die."

"Then let Korra board and we can all fly out of this. Alive."

"I can't-,"

"I'm not leaving without Korra."

"You'd choose that bandit sympathizer over me? Your own father? Have these two years turned you to such indecency? Why would you die for a girl who associates with the same kind of ment hat killed your mother? have you forgotten that they stole the love of my life?"

"No!"

"Then why-?"

"Because I need her!" Asami's voice lowered until it was barely a whisper above the roaring propellers, "She's everything to me what mom was to you."

Inconsolable rage consumed her father's face. He moved towards his daughter, placing himself between the gun and Amon. His face twisted with disgust, "How dare you!" He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, his hatred bleeding from every inch of his face. Survival compelled her to shoot, her love made her drop the gun.

"Comparing that savage to my wife?" He shook her violently but Asami showed no sign of retracting her assertion. He growled, "I can see now that there is no reversing how badly you've been brainwashed!"

"Dad, please-,"

He dragged her to the opening of the helicopter and threw her to her death.

Korra watched Asami drop. As if in slow motion. She could see her necklace lifting from her body as she ripped through the sky several feet. her hair whipping across her face in thick waves. The way her arms and legs flailed, her hands grabbing to catch something as she dropped twenty feet towards the earth.

She felt her body cross the distance only moments before she felt the impact of Asami's body against hers. She absorbed most of the blow as it took her to the ground painfully. She felt something in one of their bodies pop then crack. Their legs folded up against one anothers. Her teeth bit down on her tongue drawing blood.

They lay collapsed on the ground. Physically and emotionally drained.

Asami stared skyward; her eyes open as Korra's hand's fluttered over her face, "Asami?" She asked. Had it been enough. Was Asami alright. Her bloody hand dripped blood everywhere. her heart became heavy. "Asami, say something." She plead feeling a darkness invade her heart. The possibility that Asami wasn't alright.

"I think I broke my arm." Asami finally whispered. Korra smiled first, glad just to hear Asami's voice. Glad the darkness was receding. Then she realized someone had just tried to kill Asami.

Korra glared up at the man who had shoved his daughter from the aircraft. He returned her gaze with an equal hatred for Korra. For Asami. She hoped to ever see the man again, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to resist killing him.

The helicopter's blades sliced through the air as it spun around and faced away from Ba Sing Se.

Amon was abandoning the city. He knew if the walls couldn't keep out a few dozen undead. They certainly couldn't keep out thousands.

The helicopter began moving towards the undead. The harsh wind of the low helicopter whipping Korra's hair in her face painfully.

Wet warmth touched Korra's fingers and looking down she found they had come from Asami's eyes. The woman curled into Korra, nestling her head into Korra's chest she began weeping the loss of her father for the second time.

As Asami wad Korra's bloodied shirt in her fist a thousand undead marched towards the vulnerable walls of Ba Sing Se.

An old thought came to mind. It was about happening to find yourself between a migration and the noise they herded to…

Korra held Asami a little tighter as the raven haired woman said the word that echoed in Korra's mind, "Massacre."


	9. Mercy

Mercy

2 YEARS AGO

Something was burning and everything was heavy. The copper taste of blood filled Asami's mouth until her lips parted and allowed the blood to drip heavily to the ground.

Her arms and legs pitched forward with gravity against some kind of restraint. Opening her eyes, she realized she was hanging upside down above the ground.

Is something burning? Her sense of smell returned and almost just as instantly so did a jarring sense of touch. The consuming sensation of a thousand whips focusing on her back drowned out all other thoughts.

Struggling, she realized a slab of burning metal was atop her and all that was between her and the searing heat was the burning plastic of her seat. The heated metal and fire had eaten through the majority of the seat causing the bubbling plastic to melt against her skin with sickening pops. She shuddered away from the flames moaning in agony.

She needed to get free.

Her hands moved about herself until they sloppily found the seatbelt's buckle. She pressed the button firmly. The belt released and she dropped to the earth in a moaning heap.

Asami gasped yet again before rolling on her back. Moving side to side she smothered the flames that had endeared themselves to the fabric of her shirt as well as the skin beneath it. With the flames extinguished she closed her eyes and lay there in disturbed silence. She knew if she opened her mouth she'd resume with a blood curdling scream.

How long had she been unconscious?

She could smell her own burned hair as a stiff wind etched through the bruises and scrapes on her body.

She lay on the ground for a moment more before gathering the strength to turn over on her hands and push herself a few inches off the ground.

Where was she?

What had happened?

The moment she looked up she was greeted by the surprised expression of a man. She shrieked, backpedaling on her open palms and numb feet. She expected him to move, to allow his surprise to shift to recognition. It didn't. It remained suspended on his features.

The man's surprise had happened moments after impact. He too was still strapped in his seat, but a steal beam had lodged itself in his stomach, and gravity made his blood crawl down the slick metal.

Watching this man's face a memory tugged in her mind until it all rushed back to her.

Back to Republic City. Back to the rioting that broke out after two days without water or electricity. Back to the cannibals and radio stations reporting that they had no idea what was going on. Back to hospitals turning away patients and police stations falling into disarray. Back to the fires that were allowed to burn as first responders stopped responding knowing full well they might get bitten by doing so.

To the three firm knocks on her dorm room door and her roommate's stunned expression at the armored convoy her father had sent to escort her from Republic City University, "You're the Asami Sato? As in Future Industries Asami Sato?" To boarding the plane and finding her father had "purchased all the seats." To Asami making demands for other passengers to be allowed to board what would be the last plane out of the violent city. Then-

Asami worked to her feet with effort and took a breath. She'd removed her eyes from the man, the ghastly sight made her stomach want to expel what little food it held.

But his distraught face triggered memories. With trepidation she allowed her eyes to settle over the man's face. Familiarity. She'd seen him before now. Before the wide eyed expression of disbelief had been left suspended on his face.

Then-

Less than five minutes after take off, two fighter jets had swept in. One began dropping bombs and making craters in the runways. The second jet had pursued them spraying bullets, attempting to knock them out the sky. The pilot evaded best he could causing the plane knocking from side to side as the pilot maneuvered. Asami remembered looking out the window and seeing the shot that took out the right engine. The jet moved under them, bullets began tearing through the other wing. Then suddenly both the jets whipped a hard right and streamlined far field, away from the plane and away from the city. She'd watched the fighter jets fade to small specs when-

Asami found herself touching the man's eyelids with her fingertips. Delicately, she pulled them shut.

She could remember nothing else from this man and she felt wrong for using him in that way.

She stumbled free of the wreckage. Past the burning debris, the metallic pieces and bodies that cooked like rotisserie over flame. All of it produced a fowl stench that she knew she'd never rid from her nightmares.

When-?

She asked herself. What happened when the jets suddenly stopped pursuing them and destroying the runways? What happened when-?

The answer continued to evade her as she dug her fingers into the soft earth and climbed out of the small crater the plane had made on impact.

When-?

It hit her: when she saw the drone.

It released a package over the populated city. Moments later she saw the mushroom cloud.

That was the memory she'd had to pry free. Maybe she'd been purposefully repressing it. But now the horrifying memory returned.

When the jets turned to specs in the early morning sky, Republic City had been obliterated.

She could hear the pilot screaming he was losing control and feel the plane lose altitude in the sky. She could hear the warning beeps pricking the air like violent chords of a violin. She could see the simultaneously deploying air masks drop from the ceiling. She could see a mother across the aisle gripping her child and singing insufficient lullabies. She could see the man in front of her take his hat off and remove a postcard showing a destination he'd never behold.

The man across from her.

She recalled his sad eyes set above a gentle smile, a calm smile. She knew those eyes. She'd just finished closing their lids. Neither of them had bothered with the air masks despite the many that had. Somehow that endeared them to one another in these final moments, "You travel?" He asked her. She nodded. Now he showed her the postcard, "Have you traveled here?" He asked.

Asami looked at the postcard.

She'd traveled to every nation and more than half their states; she'd learned the steps of dozens of dances and could do their motions fluidly. Asami had learned every relic song of nomadic and empirical roots. Her tongue had tasted a rainbow of cultural dishes, some addictively good and others astoundingly awful. She'd had lovers of every color regardless of wealth or even gender. She'd driven fast cars around the world, shaken hands with some of the most powerful men in the world, and had earned the title of being one of the most brilliant minds in the world.

Yet she had never visited this obscure foreign place he held so dear. She'd never seen this magnificently immense tree he so desperately wanted to visit.

None the less, Asami reached across the table to the man, and rest her hand atop of his. Tears running over their cheeks, her voice cracked with each word, "It's beautiful." She smiled warmly, "Absolutely breathtaking."

He nodded, sucking in his lower lip. Maybe he detected the lie. If he did then he didn't let on.

She would die a liar but given the circumstances of her short life she could imagine far worse titles to die beneath.

She could look out the window and see the cloud of white smoke reaching out to catch them. She could see its round hand extend to the declining plane. She saw the murky underbelly as it consumed them, flooding the air with a fowl odor. Lastly, she could feel the plane jerk when it collided with the ground.

She recorded all of this in the black box of her heart and wanted to press erase just as soon as it played in her mind.

She stared in the direction of what had once been Republic City, a city of hope, reduced to plumes of black smoke.

PRESENT

Korra cradled Asami in her arms. She'd seen the girl wince when applying pressure to her right foot. She'd heard the girl announce she'd broken her arm and for that reason Korra the body in her arms and moved towards their car.

Kuvira watched the wall of undead closing in on them as Korra released Asami's body into the passenger side seat.

"Get them in the-," Korra turned to come face to face to Kuvira with a gun drawn and aimed directly at her, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She demanded. She reached for her own weapon but Kuvira raised her jaw ever slightly shaking the weapon in her hand.

"I'm taking the car." Kuvira stated.

Behind her the undead marched forward, only a couple dozen feet away. The man on the ground with his chest sliced open now pushed himself up in the sand. He held his gaping wound and groaned, his eyes resting on the massacre that approached.

"Over my dead body." Korra growled.

Kuvira clicked her weapon from safety, "That can be arranged." Korra steeled her jaw.

"Or you come with us." Asami offered suddenly, "You think you can just drive away from this? Check the gas. You won't make halfway out of this desert. Your best bets right now are behind those walls with as many hands to kill the undead as possible."

"Guys?" Said the guy on the ground as the undead closed within thirty feet of them.

Korra continued to look down the barrel of Kuvira's gun for a moment longer before allowing her eyes to rest on the cold snake eyes on the other side.

Slowly Kuvira lowered the weapon.

Korra moved past quickly going to the first man. He was still out like a light. She pulled his arm over her shoulder and hoped he'd wake up in time to be useful.

"You!" Korra shouted to the bleeding man "What are you waiting for? And invitation? Haul your ass!"

Limping through the sand he scraped together the energy to get on his feet. He hobbled to the backseat of the car and was quickly met with Korra heaving an unconscious body atop of him. She shut the door tight as he groaned and pushed the weight off; by time he'd managed to do so Korra had found her way to the front seat.

As the car came to life so the gas light. Her foot pressed down heavily on the gas for what little it was worth.

Tonraq had expected a fight. He'd expected a stand off. He'd expected death. He'd expected a dozen different scenarios for getting to the second ring.

None of them included them simply walking right up to the gates and pushing them open.

Where are the guards? Tonraq wondered, not for the first time as they moved up the stairs inside the walls. He knew he couldn't be alone in this thought. He knew Suyin and the others had to be thinking the very same thing.

They finally reached the door that would let them out on the top of the second interior wall. Lin placed her hand on the metal handle, took a glance behind her, raised her gun then jabbed the metal handle with a loud Bang!

Light flooded the winding stairwell and the unit broke into-

No resistance. The top of the wall was empty. Not a guard in sight. Only the sound of the undead just below, reaching up for a meal.

"Alright. I'll say it," Lin began, "What the hell is going on?"

"If our intelligence is correct, there should be a corridor on the south end of the wall holding prisoners." Suyin said her eyes directed to a map in her hands.

"Our intelligence said we'd be fighting our way through at least two dozen guards before we even reached the wall." Lin countered.

Suyin crinkled the maps in her hand before folding it, "Are you saying you want to turn back? Right now when we're so close to my daughter?"

Tonraq knew that as the days had passed she's stopped sleeping. She'd stopped eating even, 'I'll eat when my daughter is safe in my arms...' For such a rational woman, Tonraq was terrified when Suyin had turned to such irrational behavior. They'd become close these last ten months. And now he placed a hand on her shoulder, grounding her to reality. And though it was a measure that barely restrained the stubborn woman it was enough to make her drop the fists she'd clenched around her machete.

Lin spoke carefully, "I'm saying we need to proceed with caution."

"Proceed how you want," Suyin snapped and shrugged off Tonraq's hand, "Just stay out of my way." She blew past Lin and moved towards the corridor.

"What are you thinking?" Tonraq asked.

Lin watched her sister walk away from her, concern clearly written on her face, "We saw a helicopter leaving the city. I'm guessing – no, I'm certain, whatever made that helicopter leave is also why we haven't seen any opposition."

Mako, Bolin and Kai sat in silence. They hadn't been checked on in hours, or maybe it only felt like hours.

They'd lost track of time.

Just as Bolin had gotten used to the heavy breathing of thirty starving men and women, a bang came from the other side of the door.

The door clattered aside and they all flinched. As sunlight bathed them they looked aside allowing their pupils to dilate before returning their eyes to the slender frame of a girl.

"Listen up," she confidently addressed them, "There are at least a thousand undead headed for the walls of Ba Sing Se." Whispers began immediately but the girl spoke right over them, "In case you hadn't noticed the walls are falling apart. Half of it is patched with fences. As we speak, the interior wall is being secured by Amon's most loyal followers. They've already begun hoarding food, clothes, and water within in the inner most walls and reeling in their troops. They intend to allow the outer ring to be overrun."

Mako looked around and said more to himself than anyone, "That's why we haven't been checked on in hours."

"That's right." She confirmed, "Even before this, we were active in trying to prevent more bandits for being hunted and killed without fair trial. We saw what Amon was doing and knew it was wrong. We do not want to die and Amon's remaining army does not care. Ultimately, we have two options. Stay outside and die. Or fight our way inside for the chance to survive."

"Why should we trust you?" Someone inquired.

"He's right. Who are you?" Demanded another.

"I'm Jinora." She stepped further inside, her face now visible shown obviously pretty, obviously damaged from invisible scars. Bolin felt Kai take in a sharp breath, "We call our army the White Lotus." Jinora's eyes had wondered the room. Now they found their way to Kai, he looked back. Her mouth hesitated for a moment until she managed to steal her eyes away and finish, "Join us, fight them, and together we can take the upper ring."

The undead haunted this part of the desert. They shambled around as if they were attached to the city where their living bodies had once called home. Korra had swerved and evaded quite a few on the way in. Now she'd wished she'd conserved the gas. The car went dead and she began coasting on momentum.

"Dammit!" Korra had reached her breaking point, and her voice now made the hollow car feel even smaller. Too small to contain her angered scream. With one hand on the wheel she whipped around and pointed to the man still slumped against the window, unconscious, "Wake him up!" She shouted.

"He's-,"

"Wake him up or we leave him here to die."

When Korra turned back around she could feel Asami's gaze on her cheek. Korra didn't have time to explain. She never seemed to have time. Not with her mother to say goodbye. Not with her father to greet hello. Not with her friends to tell them to run and let her die. Not even enough time to fall in love.

She took off her shirt; until all that covered her upper body were her bandages winding from her mid section up, over her chest and covering her healing shoulder.

"What are your names?" Korra asked.

"Daw." Said the bloody man shaking the unconscious man, "And this is Wu."

"Well, Daw do you think you can carry a semi-automatic half a mile?" He looked down at his chest. His shirt split open revealing the mess Korra had made with her machete. He'd almost immediately forgiven her when he realized she wasn't going to leave him in the desert to die.

He knew Amon would have.

"I can try." He nodded solemnly before he arched back his hand and slapped Wu firmly across the face.

"Kuvira, I need you to carry the missile launcher from the trunk." Korra grunted as she tied a makeshift sling around Asami's broken arm using her shirt. Glancing in the rear view she could see the army of undead as their heads bobbed into view over mounds of sand. They moved so fast in packs, "Your seat should pop down."

Thunk! The sound made Korra jump and jerk her head to the right. She came face to face with an undead pressing against the glass of her window. She swallowed and continued, leaning down and taking out a small knife she cut off the bottom half of her pants leg and cut that into strips as well. Asami extended her foot and Korra began making applying her makeshift compression, wrapping the already swelling ankle quickly. Daw took out his canteen. He took a swig of the water before pulling Wu's head into his lap and dousing him.

Wu gasped jerking upward and looking around, "Where-? What-?" His eyes settled on Korra and they widened. Time seemed to slow, in that moment of confusion Wu acted on raw uneducated instinct. He panicked.

And he opened the car door to escape.

"Don't!" Korra yelled. Instantly the hands of an undead grabbed Wu's wrist and beginning to pull him out.

"Wu!" Daw moved to help his friend as he was being yanked from the car.

A second undead reached Wu's side of car, he moved beneath the boy's squirming body just as Daw grabbed hold of Wu's legs and firmly tugged him back inside. Wu screamed as the hands moved to take a hold around his neck unintentionally strangling the boy and silencing his screams to small gasps. The undead had enough of what he need though. He unhinged and moved to clamp down hard on Wu's neck.

Daw reacted, grabbing Kuvira's gun.

"No!" Korra shouted.

Pow!

She knew right then time was out. She knew right then Daw might as well have sent up a signal flare telling ever undead within a mile exactly where their next meal was. The undead who hadn't been interested before now closed in ranks and began to mob them.

The undead fell forward his brains draining from the new hole a mushy green substance. Daw raised and aimed for the second undead still attempting to crawl underneath Wu's body. Wu fell to the ground limp but only for a moment as three undead picked up where the first had left off. His legs were all that remained in the car; his upper torso was an easy sprawled out target. Wu was dragged free of the car, with three undead piling on him.

Daw hesitated as Wu was dragged through the thick sand. He hesitated to leave what the last safe zone offered by the car. But Korra knew better. The safety of the car was a lie. The moment they'd run out of gas the car had turned them into sitting ducks.

She locked eyes with Asami. The emerald eyes still took her breath away, even now filled with so much fear.

Korra's heart ached as she turned to her door then and jammed it open into the face of the undead that desperately tried to get in.

He bucked away from the door as it hit him. Over his shoulder a second undead hobbled forward, his arm at an awkward angle from his body, his breathing expelling blood and saliva from a deformed lip. She slammed the door shut behind her and raised her gun. They were coming for them anyhow. Daw had insured that. She fired at the first undead. The second undead reached out with his one good hand and locked a firm grip on her hand holding the gun.

She used his grip against him, pulling her arm back and allowing him to stumble forward into the machete she brought up to his stomach. She tugged the machete through his body's core, ripping him all but in half. His dissected body fell to the ground and she didn't waste another moment moving around the back of the car.

She aimed and fired three shots rapidly into the skulls of the undead trampling Wu.

When their bodies fell limp he shoved them off, screaming like an idiot. The lucky bastard had somehow managed to not get bit. Korra approached him and with each step she took he scurried away. The determination in her gaze as deadly as the gun in her hand. She leaned over and yanked him to his feet by his scrawny shoulders.

He turned away shaking violently in terror, expecting her to kill him. Instead when he managed to open his cowardly eyes he found her pointing to the crumbled break in the outermost wall. She handed him her spare machete and shoved him forward, "Run."

Just then Korra heard the sound of shattering glass. She spun in time to see the three undead that had pound their way into Kuvira's side of the car.

The hands broke through the glass and pulled her wriggling body through the jagged pieces. The sharp edges bore into Kuvira's skin on the way out, scraping her body head to toe.

Korra raced to the vehicle checking to be sure there wasn't a build up on Asami's door. She brought her machete down on the head of a new arriving undead, yanking the machete free with a firm jerk. Suddenly she hesitated. Looking at Asami in the passenger seat. Her foot badly sprained. She needed someone to help her to the wall. She needed someone maybe just as badly as Kuvira and everything in Korra wanted to be that someone. But she couldn't be, not right now, her heart sank to her stomach as she turned to Daw and shouted, "Get Asami to the wall!"

She then glanced at Asami whose mouth fell slightly ajar. She knew in that moment that Asami wanted her to be that someone. But she also knew Kuvira needed someone as well.

Korra raised her gun and found she was out of bullets. She discarded the weapon then, feeling it hunker into the sand she cut down the first undead, severing its head from its neck then moved on to the second. He managed to grab hold of her shoulder; in one fatal swoop she severed the connection between his wrist and his hand. The hand fell to the ground only fractions of a second before his body.

She glanced again to Daw who allowed Asami to place her weight around his shoulders and together they struggled free of the car.

Kuvira screamed reminding Korra of her purpose.

She raced for the woman as the undead took her to the ground with an almost synchronized motion. The first undead to bite in pulled back his head munching greedily on the flesh he pulled away. Kuvira screamed firing her gun at blind targets.

Asami screamed as a bullet split through the air, breaking the glass of Korra's window burying itself in the sand. It had missed Asami's body by centimeters.

Korra glanced behind her, to Kuvira's reckless hand, to the undead and made a choice. Upon arrival she kicked the gun from Kuvira's hand before she accidently killed someone.

She grabbed the shoulders of the undead who had unhinged his teeth around Kuvira's ankle. She tossed him backwards and buried her machete into his body.

Meanwhile Kuvira began beating her fist into the skull of the undead that was unhinging for his second bite. He wasn't deterred and Kuvira soon found her fingers taking hold of both ends of his jaw. She pushed his mouth open with all her strength focused on keeping the jaw apart. She screamed a gasp of effort as the teeth began to close down on her fingers. Her blood mixed with his thick saliva and with a final cry of strain she managed to break the mouth apart rendering him incapable of biting.

Korra sliced through the back of the last hunched over beast. He turned his head to her slowly and that was the only queue she needed to clobber her machete through his jaw.

Kuvira threw the undead over to the ground and climbed atop of him. His arms strained beneath the legs that pinned them and he gurgle blood sloppily out of his broken mouth, heaving his chest upward he snarled at the woman as she buried her fist into his skull. Then the other. Then the other. She began pounding him senselessly.

Korra approached the woman and now she could see why the woman beat the undead so viciously. Kuvira's ear had been partially removed along with a part of her cheek. She could just make out the white of Kuvira's teeth. Her blood and exposed flesh must have ached unbearably but Kuvira was too blinded by rage to feel it.

Kuvira threw one fist after the other into his face, gritting her teeth and ignoring the tears that began running down her grimy face.

The undead closed in. The wall of undead spilled over the last hurdle of dunes before they entered this empty space leading to the outer walls.

Korra grabbed the woman's raised bloodied fist in the air, "We have to go."

Kuvira ripped her fist free and brought it down again on the flattened skull.

Kuvira heaved heavy breaths dropping her fists to her side as she fought back tears.

Korra spoke softer, knowing she couldn't possibly imagine what Kuvira was feeling, "Kuvira-,"

"I'm going to… I'm going to become one of them."

Korra took a breath. She stepped into Kuvira's line of sight and set her jaw firmly, "I won't let that happen."

Hearing the resolve in Korra's voice, Kuvira looked up at the woman, "You'd do that? Show me pity? After everything I've done."

"It's not pity. It's mercy. And if there is such a thing as pity or mercy in this world do you honestly think you deserve it?"

Kuvira looked to the ground then, "So why-,"

Korra cut her off; "Because the only difference between them and us is our ability to show mercy even to those who don't deserve it." she reached down and yanked the woman to her feet. She noted the three undead coming for them at all angles only a few yards away. She turned and pointed to the crumbling wall. There was no safety inside of them. But it was the prospect that there was something still worth running at.

Kuvira looked to the walls. To the closing in undead that blocked their way, "We're fighters," Korra eyes found Asami just now making it to the wall. Asami stood on her sprained ankle. She buried a machete into the head of an undead with her left arm. The strength behind it was too light. She had to hack the undead three times. But the undead was finished and Daw was finished with two others also. He put his arm under her and carried her towards the walls. "We have people we want to fight for knowing we'll probably never earn a peaceful moment with them. Mercy is us from being the undead."


	10. Kill

Kill

2 YEARS AGO

Kai moistened his lips with his tongue, glancing over his shoulder into the still, dark house around him he turned back to the cabinets. He was quietly working the thin pieces of metal into the locks on the cabinet's handles.

Two successive clicks told him he had successfully picked the locks.

Suddenly lights flooded the kitchen and a hand yanked him from the high counter, "You ungrateful little shit!" His teeth locked down on his tongue uncontrollably as his body was flung backwards and his rear hit the dining room table at an awkward angle. He fell to the floor with the table collapsing in around him.

His heart began hammering, his breathing became heavy and he felt blood begin to fill his mouth. His brain stuttered to catch up to what was happening. When it did he found a hand around his collar yanking him from the debris of the table and his foster father's enraged face only inches from his own.

"You want to steal from me you little shit?" He screamed at the twelve year old boy. Kai's eyes drifted over the shoulder of his foster father, to his foster brother and sister, standing in the doorway. His foster brother's eyes filled with apology, he extended a hand to go help but his blood sister reached out and pulled him back shaking her head. He'd only been stealing the food for them. They'd lost their eating privileges for the past three days.

"Don't look at them you fucking thief!" Kai's eyes came back to his foster father right as a fist met him in the temple. The force sent him sprawling backward. He attempted to get to his feet. He attempted to run away but a swift kick landed in his groin.

He doubled over in agony, grabbing himself and closing his eyes as a second foot hammered into his ribs with such a crushing weight Kai thought he'd never breathe again.

"What the hell do you have to say for yourself?" The man demanded. "Hm?" The man made a motion to hit the boy again. His foster mother edged around the corner, tying her night gown. She averted her eyes from the violent scene in front of her. And instead went to lock the cabinets back up.

Kai sputtered a response, glancing to his petrified foster siblings, "I-I saw a roach and went to kill it. I know how much-,"

"Liar! Every time you speak you spout more damned lies!" Thundered his foster father, he grabbed the boy by his collar and began heaving him out the kitchen and into the living room. As Kai went, he watched the true siblings. Not just foster siblings. The boy and girl were related by more than papers but actual blood. Kai had got caught up, he realized. He'd made the mistake of thinking of them as friends.

Now they couldn't even meet his eyes as their foster father dragged him through the house to the living room and took up the barrel of his hunting rifle.

Kai swallowed hard.

"You want to be a liar and a thief?" he intimidated opening the front door of the porcelain house, "Well go out there and be a thief. In fact don't come back until you've hunted your weight in game!"

"But-," Kai stammered, "I-I don't know how to shoot a gun!"

"You should have thought about that before you tried to steal my food you fucking leach." The man shoved him from behind and through the door, slamming it hard enough to shake the shingles of the house.

Kai stepped onto the porch, his knees still shaking, his body aching. The air was cold enough that he could see his own breath. He stepped his bare feet down each step, the home nestled in a small opening of the woods that ganged up on him. He looked around, suddenly realizing how early in the morning it was. How scary the woods looked. As if the bark of the trees wore angry expressions.

Kai stepped forward in his boxers and t-shirt. One step at a time. He swallowed his fear and moved into the darkness.

Kai hunted what seemed like all day. He found neither game nor water. His stomach growled, his body ached, and he didn't need a mirror to know that he'd been bruised badly from the foster father's beating.

He pressed forward anyhow and eventually he came to a thinning river. He put the shot gun down on the grass at his side. And lowered himself to the water bringing a cupped hand of water to his mouth. He drank greedily. He had forgotten he'd bitten his tongue but the tight sting reminded him. He went to cup yet another handful only to be stopped by the sound of heavy breathing.

He paused; pulling away from the water he directed his eyes to the sound. It had come from the other side of the shallow river. It had come from a woman standing with sunken erratic eyes and poor posture. She had only one shoe. Her clothes were torn as if she'd been attacked. Her shorts were secured by a belt and her leg showed bite marks.

Kai watched the woman, "Hey." He smiled realizing maybe he'd found someone who could help him, "I'm a bit lost." He began, "My names Kai." He said as the woman began stepping into the stream with no regard to getting her shoes wet.

Kai looked around, sensing something was off.

"Can you tell me where the nearest road is?" Kai asked the woman. Her mouth fell open then and she began to hiss at him. Kai hesitated. He looked her over. She swayed on her feet; her agape mouth revealed yellow teeth, a stiff wind brought a fowl stench to Kai's nose. He did his best to not recoil from the stench, it might offend her. Now he found himself asking, "Are you alright?"

Without warning she lunged across the river, her feet kicking water aside. She crossed the distance between them so fast, "What the-?"

She threw him to the ground, her hands seizing him by both his cheeks, her mouth dripping a thick warm fluid heavily onto his fluttering eyelid. He pushed out his hands into her chest holding back her snapping teeth.

He'd been beaten once today, his eyebrows dipped harshly downward, "Not..." He struggled, "Again!" He threw the woman off. She slowly pushed to her feet as Kai rolled over in the grass. His hands taking up the hunting rifle. He aimed for the woman as she sloppily raced for him, her limbs as erratic as her shifty eyes.

He fired.

The bullet sped forward, and the kick from the rifle knocked him back. The gun kicked in his arms and smashed into his shoulder. The force knocked him from his feet and to the ground landing on his bruised rear.

The woman was flung aside as well, the shot had made purchase in her skull and her brains had erupted, landing heavily in the grass and splashing across the bark.

Breathing heavy breaths Kai looked upon what he'd done. A pungent odor hung in the air and his eyes began to tear. Not just because the retched scent but because he realized what he'd done.

He'd killed her. His heart began to ache in his chest, and he lifted a trembling hand to his bruising shoulder.

He'd killed her without thinking. He shuddered a breath.

He'd killed her in cold blood.

His eyes began to sting unbearably, and he soon found a flow of wetness rushing over his cheeks. He'd killed another human being. He got to his feet. Why? Why had he been sent out here with a rifle? Why had she attacked him?

The rifle. His fingers still felt the cool metal in the grass beside him. He jerked his hand away and stood stepping away from what he'd done.

What would happen to him? He'd be sent to juvie. Maybe prison. And he couldn't go back there. He just couldn't.

She was dead. Turning himself in wouldn't change that. They'd never believe she'd attacked him. His words were meaningless. He was just another screw up produced by the foster care system. He had no choice. All of them had disappeared the moment he'd pulled the trigger:

He had to run.

So he ran.

PRESENT

Thwack!

The back door slammed open and Korra stumbled through, tripping over her feet, she felt her body collide with a thick fence. Almost instantly a hand jammed through the wood, wanting her but being separated by the thick fence between them.

Her crew spilled through the back door, each of them stumbling as they realized how little clearing there was. Korra scrambled to her feet counting heads.

Wu followed by Kuvira. Then Daw with Asami draped over his shoulders. She slammed the door shut on the fifteen undead that brimmed behind them. She watched her crew travel behind the building.

Kuvira raised her gun and took down an undead with a single shot.

The undead pushed against Korra's weight, their strength just barely reduced by the door that naturally swung inward. If they had brains they would realize they only needed to open the door in their direction. As it was they were brain dead and pushed forward. Korra watched her crew cover a safe distance then she took her weight from the door and moved to follow them. Korra raced to catch up with her crew.

The houses were all small and close together. They passed through the thin backyards in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se.

As she just managed to reach the end of the small houses, only five yards from her crew, what seemed like ten undead spill out between them.

Asami twisted around when Korra screamed in surprise and back tracked right into the hands of an undead. He unhinged as his meal was delivered into his arms. He began to bring down his jaw only to be cut off by Korra burrowing her machete into his jaw and shoving him backwards into his friends.

"Korra!" Asami shouted as the undead continued to pool in.

"Go!" Korra said taking down an undead with her machete and slamming the heel of her foot into the chest of another, "I'll be fine! Get to the wall!"

She worked on pure adrenalin, throwing her body up and over the fence. Her back hit the ground first, and an undead leapt atop her. She drove her machete into his eye and swung their bodies over, making quick work of severing his neck from the rest of his body she took a few steps back from the fence. With a running start she leapt atop the fence of the fence and balanced there. Feeling the hands come around her feet, she didn't give them long to make purchase before jumping again to the roof of the small houses.

Grunting she heaved her weight atop the rooftop. Taking only a few moments to take a heavy breath.

Two quick gunshots cracked in the air as Korra leapt from one house roof to the other. She looked down briefly and could see Asami standing between four undead, gun raised, her finger pulling a trigger. Nothing happened. She was out.

Daw was a small ways away, he'd run out of bullets also. He had not a knife or sword. He only had his fists. Which is why he grabbed the nearest undead and took him to the ground, violently bashing its head between the hard pavement and his hands.

Korra's feet slipped and she tumbled from the one story roof. She looked around. The undead were everywhere.

She stood up despite the pain in her body and broke into a run. Her machete rocketed through the stomach of one dead, she used her building momentum to drive her body through another with a glancing tackle.

Wu and Kuvira pressed their backs against one another's. Wu raised his bony arms, two daggers in his hands. Kuvira aimed two .45 calibers. The shots began to ring.

Asami took a breath. She held the gun by its barrel now and when the first undead reached her she buried it in his skull. Hard, but not her dominant hand, and not nearly enough. He kept coming at her. A second undead closed in, grabbing her arm. She turned, removing the metal from the first skull and took the second with a hard hit across his jaw knocking him sideways.

That was when Korra burst into the fight. She took down the first undead, still pawing for Asami, driving her machete through his dented skull. She moved in on the second, running her machete through his face. Without a moment to lose, she placed her disgusting fingers in her mouth and made a ballpark whistle then pointed, "Get to the roof!"

She took Asami's weight, quickly pulling her arm over her shoulders and dragging the girl towards a nearby dumpster. Daw bound for the dumpster. He climbed up and over, quickly atop the roof. He turned and extended his hand. Korra lifted Asami, then turned for Wu and Kuvira as they finished off the few undead blocking them and the dumpster. She all but threw Wu into Daw's arms, the boy weighed nothing. She waited for Kuvira then powered her foot into the dumpster watching it toppled aside as undead closed in around her. She took a small running start then leapt.

Daw's hands caught her own and with Wu pulling him from behind the two heaved the girl to the rooftop.

Undead mobbed the house immediately. The world had become a sea of undead. Dozens turned to easily a hundred. They all reached for the skies wanting a bite of their prey.

Korra pointed to a nearby apartment building and without a single word they all began making their way over the heads of the undead.

Suyin threw the corridor's door aside and found the corridor empty. "Dammit." She swore, "Dammit!" Lin's arm moved to console her sister. Suyin pushed her away heatedly and she took a few steps towards the edge of the wall. Wing and Wei looked between themselves.

"What now?" Tonraq asked.

"Everyone." Suyin said suddenly. She pointed towards the inner most walls. Tonraq, Lin and the Beifong brothers joined her on the edge their eyes resting on what was far below.

A riot had broken lose. Fires burned away at houses. Armed men fired at men and women armed only with pitch forks and long knives.

Just then gunfire in the opposite direction.

Tonraq turned away from the massacre happening in the streets and moved to the outer wall. Two more quick gunshots rang out in the abandoned city. His eyes searched what seemed like an endless expanse of high apartments and undead. He took out his binoculars and moved them over the city. The undead seemed to be milling towards the gunshots.

Who would be stupid enough to go into the outer ring? That was when he saw Korra running across rooftops.

"Stay close, Bo." Mako said to brother as they made their way through the alleyways of Ba Sing Se. Bolin gripped Opal tightly. He'd convinced her to eat and drink. But he didn't dare ask her to walk. He carried her in his arms, cradling her head to his chest. He'd belying if he said he didn't miss the old Opal. He wanted his friendly loving girlfriend back.

Every time the thought crossed his mind he tried to rid it of himself. This is Opal now, he told himself. You love Opal. Not the memory of her.

He cupped her head in his hand and continued to carry her with as much comfort as he could. Mako placed a hand on his shoulder and he froze. Kai hadn't been paying attention and he bumped into Bolin's back.

"I think this is it." Mako said. He turned his head to Kai. Quietly Kai looked around and found what he was looking for. A fire escape ladder. He pulled the bars down and climbed up them. Mako turned to his brother.

"Bolin-," he began.

"Someone has to get Opal through those walls. She won't make it out if-,"

"I know." he looked at his baby brother and the woman in his arms. Mako had to know that Bolin loved this woman just as much as he loved Mako. But he loved her in a different way. And it didn't make this moment any easier.

"Just promise you'll run if they start throwing nerve gas. And stay away from people with guns, the men will shoot at them first and you don't want to get hit with stray bullets," Mako said, his mouth parted ready to say more. Bolin cut him off.

"I love you too, bro." Mako hesitated looking at his baby brother. His determination to save Opal. His determination to not lose anyone else.

Mako spoke honestly, "And I love you… so don't fuck around and get yourself killed." Mako tried to beat up their old life. When they went around teasing one another. When things weren't always life or death.

Bolin smiled at the effort.

The brother's stared at one another a moment longer before Bolin turned and began walking away. Because one of them didn't they'd have stood there all day trying to be tough, trying to ignore how vulnerable they were at that moment. Trying to pretend they might ever see one another again and if they did, they might be seeing one another as an undead.

The undead had managed to get to the rooftops. They chased them from one building to the other. Always falling when they came to a gap, always five more to take their place.

Korra pushed Asami ahead of herself as Daw made the last bounding jump into the window of the apartment building.

Glass sprayed and fell in on him and he rolled to the side as Kuvira and Wu made the jump. Korra took a few steps back from as Asami braced herself. The jump was two yards wide, not something you do together. Asami knew what she had to do, and Korra had no doubt that it would hurt. She ran with everything she had putting her weight on her ankle.

Korra held off undead as the girl made the leap coming up just centimeters short. Daw still was on the ground pulling pieces of glass from his face, and Kuvira had found herself in a fight with an undead waiting for them inside. Asami seemed to drop, her scream making Korra's own scream begin to form, "Asami!"

Wu threw his upper body from the window, his hand coming around Asami's wrist as her feet dangled two stories from the ground with a mob of undead waiting below. Korra grit her teeth. Throwing off an undead with a single blow she bound the gap.

Wu strained, vessels in his neck popping. Asami screamed. Her broken arm and legs swinging heavy beneath her as the wiry guy tried to hold on. Korra hit the ground and rolled over once, ignoring the glass that scraped her forearms as she jumped behind Wu and wound her arms around his waist. Asami began rising from outside the window as an undead emerged from the shadows of the room, happy to meet the newcomer with an unhinging jaw. Korra turned moments too late as the undead's hands came around her. She was sure she'd be bitten then. She didn't care, she continued to heave. And moments before the undead's teeth made purchase a gun went off and the undead was sent flailing away.

Kuvira spared a bullet as she was bitten for the second time by an undead, this time the undead removed a chunk of her arm. The bullet stopped the undead from ending Korra's life.

Korra dug her feet into the ground and pulled firmly on Wu. Her strength everything needed to pull Asami inside the window. Asami fell inside with"Oof!" her good arm on one side of Wu's head.

"Wow," Wu said, "I didn't know you took falling in love so literally."

Asami's eyebrows dipped in confusion. Was he really hitting on her right now?

Korra moved to Kuvira's side and pulled the undead off of her. Together they finished them. That was when Korra heard the heavy breathing.

Not from her sides, the spacious room was void of more undead. No. The sound came from above. Her eyes moved skyward as the first undead dropped into the room through a gaping hole.

He was followed by several more. Too many more. Korra reached over, yanked Daw to his feet. He'd made the mistake of not turning his head. Now he was rewarded with several shards of glass being in his eyes. No one needed to say anything. They couldn't take this many. Kuvira grabbed Asami and Wu trailed behind. Quickly they raced from the room before the undead got to their swaying feet.

They entered a long hall. Only one undead awaited them. Wu managed to handle him, swinging for his knees then when down Wu bludgeoned his machete into the top of his skull.

Korra moved past him. She kicked open the door of a room. The room was empty but they ran into a similar problem – a huge gaping hole in the ceiling.

What the hell happened here? Korra wandered, kicking the door to another room. Then another. In seconds they'd cleared through the entire floor and made their way down stairs. They couldn't go up, so they went down. The first door they came to had one word written on it with spray paint: UNDEAD

Korra kept moving, thanking whoever had offered them that vital information and moved to the next story. They entered the second floor of the building and found themselves on a wrapping balcony. There had once been stairs leading to the balcony but whoever had written UNDEAD on the door, and hacked massive holes into the floorboards had also done them the favor of blowing the stairs to smithereens. Korra thanked them again silently, knowing if they weren't here they were probably dead.

There was only one door before the wrapping stairs dropped to the second floor. Korra moved her crew inside. It was a kitchen restaurant. They moved across the floorboards, guns raised. Ready for whatever came next to kill them.

Kuvira worked her way towards a closet. She swung the door open and aimed. Empty.

She moved back to Korra's flank and they all moved to clear the kitchen.

"All clear," Korra said. In a few moments they'd barricade the door with kitchen appliances and Korra was able to take a breath for the first time in what felt like days.

Asami collapsed into a chair. Daw moved to a sink with Wu and began flushing his eyes with water from his canteen. Kuvira slid her back down the wall and came to a resting position against it.

That was it. Korra thought. Silence. No one had anything to say. They'd just been through hell and they'd only come halfway.

No one wanted to say to, but they all knew it: They simply didn't have another one of those in them.

Kuvira touched her fingers to the fresh bite mark on her arm. Her eyes misting up she looked away. Korra glanced at Asami who had begun to undo the compression Korra had made for her. They hadn't had time to ask questions. All Asami knew was that Kuvira had been bitten and for some reason Korra had kept her around.

Korra was glad she had. If she'd come through that window and Kuvira hadn't been there, Korra would have let herself be bitten before letting Asami fall to her death.

Korra took a seat beside the woman. They didn't meet each other's eyes. Korra simply picked up a towel from a nearby dining cart and extended it to her.

"Thank you doesn't seem big enough for what you did." Korra said some time later. Her eyes trailed to the woman's face, she had no ear. The skin around the wound had already begun to die. It didn't bleed either. The blood seemed suspended almost. As if it was too thick. It oozed with visible chunks.

She was dying. It was killing her. When Kuvira finally met Korra's eyes she noted her pupils dilating slowly before expanding slowly.

"We're not to the wall yet." Kuvira said quietly. She pressed the cloth into a fresh cut from the glass. Kuvira allowed the cloth to drop; she knew it was pointless to be concerned about hygiene and infection. She was dying. There was no way around it, "I won't make it to the wall." She said simply.

"Kuvira," Korra began. Kuvira had come two years into this. She'd been left for dead, she'd survived two harsh winters, she'd survived that day at the vet's office, and now she'd die here in Ba Sing Se. "I'm so sorry." Korra said.

"You have to kill me before something else happens," Kuvira said. The sound of lapping water had ceased and Korra knew everyone was listening. This was the worse way to die. You could be killed by a wild animal looking for a meal in the winter. You could be killed by another human. But killed by an undead?

To be tortured by your own body.

That was hell on earth.

"I might change in the middle of a fight or something and hurt one of you guys. So just, kill me now while it's calm."

Korra swallowed. She'd hoped Kuvira would make it to the walls. She'd hoped to prolong this moment. To prolong keeping good on her word.

"How?" Korra asked.

Kuvira took out her .45 caliber, "Seems fitting." She extended the steel weapon to Korra, "It only has one bullet in it."

Kuvira took a deep breath, "I don't want to wait till I'm dead, Korra. You know how people get right before they change." Korra nodded. She could recall the first few weeks two years ago. How they became belligerent and paranoid.

Kuvira stood and moved towards the closet she'd cleared on the way in. She opened the door and cast a glance to Korra.

Korra looked to the rest of the crew. Wanting them to say she didn't have to do it. That this was all a prank. That Kuvira wasn't changing. She'd be the pain in the ass, bitch she always was to Korra.

But she knew from the weight of the gun that that simply wasn't so.

Korra followed Kuvira. Her hand shaking. Her heart in her stomach. Her eyes itching with tears.

Was she about to take a woman's life?

When she came to the closet she looked around. Cleaning supplies were stocked up with brooms, mops, and dust pans.

This was the place Kuvira would die. Among the cleaning supplies at an unnamed hotel. She'd die from a single gunshot to the back of her head. There would be a syrupy puddle of blood around her. She'd changed so much that her blood had begun to run thick in her veins like the undead's did.

Kuvira lowered herself to her knees. She closed her eyes. Korra raised the gun.

Was she about to take a woman's life?

The gun began shaking in her hand. Her jaw began to quiver. She was a protector. She was a soldier. She looked out for people.

Was she truly about to take a woman's life?

A hand came around her own. She recognized the cool touch immediately. The hand removed the gun from Korra's. It did not shake. It did not falter. It simply took the weapon from Korra's hand.

"It's not murder for the sake of violence or hatred, Korra," Asami said quietly, "It's murder for the sake of mercy and compassion. For-,"

"Survival." Kuvira finished Asami's thought.

Korra walked away then. She stood a few feet from the closet doors. She heard the sound of Kuvira's voice: "Thank you."

The sound of the gunshot made Korra jump, the sound of Kuvira's body falling limp against shelves made her sob.


	11. Alone Pt 1

Alone Pt. 1

1 AND A HALF YEARS AGO

Korra's bare feet purchased in twelve inches of snow. Her toes had turned an unhealthy hue of blue. She took off her jacket and made a bold move. It would be one thing to lose a finger. Another to lose her big toes. The truth was you could live with a few fingers missing. You'd die without your toes. Without them you could not walk. And though the winter made Korra's body uncertain with straggling motion, to not be able to walk would completely damn her.

She ripped and wrapped her jacket around her feet, then pushed away from the earth, praying it would be enough.

She'd fallen. Her head had a nasty gash to prove it, her arms had been bruised by several branches and debris. Just before hitting the unforgiving rock below she'd managed to find a cold vine strong enough to break her fall. It had torn through her hand leaving a bloody mess of gaping flesh and tissue. Her weapon of choice was a piece of driftwood she'd dislodged from a frozen over river. Her belly had begun to rumble audibly after day two.

This was day four of separation from her group. Her father, Suyin, Tenzin and the other few dozen that had made it this far into winter.

She heard their feet around her. Not an undead's heavy footfall.

This noise was faint and measured.

Purposeful.

Korra came to a stop. Around her was endless white. The snow still howled against her from the right making it impossible to see more than four feet ahead of herself.

She was being followed.

By man?

She'd heard the stories around camp fires. The stories of escaped convicts roaming free, not having law enforcement to put them in check. Serial killers and rapists a like freed from their cells as if the epidemic weren't already enough of a horror.

She listened closer still, her head turning left. Only the heavy snow, the biting cold, the blurry vision of someone dying of hypothermia.

The panting made her head snap right, but the heavy barreling feet through the thirteen inches of snow made her head snap left.

It was the paws of a hungry wolf pounding against her chest and taking her backwards to the ground that made her look forward.

She felt her feet barrel upward, her body sunk into the snow. The warm body atop of her snarled in her face. It's fangs long, it's eyes vicious. She thrust her arms forward, catching his teeth before he could bite a chunk of her face off.

"Gah!" She gasped as his fangs dug into her hands. He was powerful. His body built to hunt his prey and murder them. Holding his jaw open took everything she had.

The second wolf leapt at her legs. She caught sight of him just in time to jam her leg forward and kick him away. The second had been a female and she growled, hitting the ground on her back and twisting around quickly back on his feet. She dug her fingers into the wolf's mouth, using the leverage to throw him free with everything she had.

He rocketed aside, his small hungry frame making contact with a tree. His backside knocking snow free as he fell to the ground, covered in a patch of snow. He leapt back into action, shaking his head and body as Korra scrambled to her feet.

The three hungry wolves closed in. They began to growl. She lifted the driftwood in her hand, her eyes flicking to each of them. Her body falling into a slight crouch.

She pressed it all away then. Her hunger. Her thirst. Her numb toes. Her bloody wounds. She compartmentalized it all.

All of those things would kill her in due time. But this… this was now. Three hungry wolves circling her, growling. Waiting for an opening.

"Who wants to be my dinner?" She asked them a lot more confident than she felt.

That was when the wolf circling from behind her attacked.

She spun the female wolf's twig body down with a powerful thrust of the wood only to feel the claws of the second wolf dig into her back. He opened his mouth clamping down on her shoulder. She cried out reaching around in an attempt to throw him off.

That was when she felt the third wolf's fangs sink into her calf. The smaller framed wolf reared his neck pulling away some of her skin and small chunks of her flesh.

The pain that hit her was immediate. Even the cold didn't temper the sensation.

She forgot the one on her shoulder.

She could survive with an aching shoulder. Not if she couldn't walk. Not if she couldn't run.

She brought the wood down on the head of the wolf on her calf. One hard blow that split his skull clean open and broke the wood in her hand in half. Dinner.

She reached behind her pulling her second attacker forward. He bit her hand, squirming free. The first attacker was on her feet again. She circled her, looking to the dead wolf at her feet.

It hadn't occurred to Korra until just now that it had been a younger wolf. No doubt their child.

A kinder part of her grieved for them, a primal part of her, the part that wanted to survive, told her to kill the parents as well and use their fur as a jacket.

She had no weapons then. They knew this and they were angry.

The following attack came simultaneously.

Bam! The pain was astounding, how much power they had in those paws that knocked her backwards. One bit into her abdomen, the other drug his nails through her back. They trampled her a moment.

She couldn't figure out where they were, as eight feet simultaneously pound against her. Jaws opening and biting down, peppering her body in burning bites of agony. The white snow stained with her blood as she rolled over and landed a blow to the muzzle of one.

She pound away, one fist after the other until the wolf snagged her fist in its hand, biting down on her. She cried out into the cold air, her warm breath expelling a mist. As the warm bodies began to pull her apart. One pinned her, he opened his jaw and prepared to bite her neck. The other went for the artery I her legs, biting through her like she was paper and her fangs were scissors.

She realized then that they were trained. Just as a hunter with a rifle, to take apart a beasts by hitting vital points. She could feel every bone in his body as she held his chest at bay.

Then there came a third body. it'ss belly flying into view rfom just above her head and trailing snow behind her feet.

"Naga!" Korra exclaimed as her white dogs fur barreled through the snow taking the first attacker to the ground. Naga barred her teeth in his face, growling before doubling around and removing the second from her thigh. She pound her paw into the side of his head, before pinning his tail with her hind leg and biting into his fur. He bucked in her grip but she didn't release. She shook her head, deepening the bite, blood rupturing into the snow, its heat enough to cause trails of steam to sizzle in the air.

The second wolf took her by surprise. Biting her neck and dragging her backwards. The female wolf and Naga fought then, biting, swinging paws and moving back on hind legs for moments as they bit at one another, their fangs even locking around one another's in a violent kiss before Naga pushed her off.

Naga squealed a high pitched sound, twisting her bloody neck and fur and snapping her fangs at the male wolf that had closed in on her and chosen this moment to bite her rear.

Korra watched, her hand lifting from the wound on her thigh for only a moment. She looked down; the snow fell hard against her body. She felt colder. So very cold. She was bleeding awfully. The wolf had managed to bite through so much of her flesh. She worked now to keep pressure on the wounds peppering her body. She felt weak. A mixture of hunger and cold working as a deadly combination in her body.

She slumped back into the earth, her head turned to the side.

Over the dead body of a younger wolf she could see Naga valiantly defending her against the two others. Her consciousness faded. It had been fading even before the attack. Now with blood spill across the white carpet of the shallow woods, she could hear the punctuating cry of her dog. Woman's best friend. She could hear her being killed by the savage wolves.

She could do nothing but drop her head to the snow and pray when she awoke it wouldn't be as an undead.

PRESENT

The sound of the gunshot made Korra jump, the sound of Kuvira's body falling limp against shelves made her sob.

Asami exited the storage room moments later. The gun at her side, her eyes widening. Korra turned slowly, to look at the woman. Korra had always prided herself on being strong. But Asami, she had a strength even Korra didn't possess. She watched the woman's eyes begin to swim, her hand dropping the gun to the ground as she moved toward a wall, she doubled over then and vomited.

Korra moved closer to the woman. Asami's body was shaking and Korra's hands must have felt so foreign, she must have gone somewhere else, because when she looked up at Korra she had an sharpness in her eyes and a scowl on her lips.

Korra placed a hand on her back, sweeping long black locks of her hair away from her face as she finished retching and expelling.

It's a horror. Korra thought. This is all one never ending horror show.

When Asami finished she wiped her mouth with a nearby table cloth then stepped away slowly, her eyes moving away from Korra. She gargled water from her canteen spitting it out in a nearby bucket before repeating several times.

Korra's eyes etched over the woman's twig like build. She must have been something to see, even more so than now. Before the hunger wracked her body, making her sleeveless shirt reveal bone with lean hungry muscle.

Asami redid her pony tail, surprisingly neat, the curly black hair dancing in her fingers. She found another wall to slide down against. Across from Wu and Daw as they pushed two tables together and Daw laid atop of them.

Korra watched the woman a moment before deciding to take a seat beside her.

She heard Wu cooing softly to Daw as he rinsed tweezers with Alcohol and instructed Daw to 'stay still' while he got the glass out of his eye, "It won't be bad. Just an itty bitty pinch. That's all."

Korra swallowed.

She knew what came next; even Wu did, because he quickly gave Daw a belt to bite down on.

"I'm sorry I put you here," Korra said as the first piece of glass was clamped between the tweezers in Wu's hand.

Daw squirmed, his fists clenched, a grunt escaped his throat.

"You don't have to apologize." Asami said as Wu removed the glass. Daw's body surged upward from the makeshift bed. Wu's hand shoved his face to the table violently as the glass was pulled free.

"Yes I do. I shouldn't have brought you out to that desert."

"I volunteered," Asami said sharply.

"I shouldn't have let you," Korra pulled her legs close to her chest then. How many people had she lead? How many of them were dead? Kai, Mako, Bolin. She missed them so much. And they might all be dead. She might never know what happened to them.

"You didn't 'let me' do anything." Asami said firmly. Korra glanced at the woman beside her. So powerful. So resilient. Independent. She loved all those things about Asami. She loved Asami.

"Son of a bitch!" Daw screamed, slamming his fist into the table as Wu dropped the heavy piece of glass into a napkin.

"There's one other big one in there." Wu reminded him.

Daw took a heavy breath, blood streaming from his face and pooling against his ear, "Then pull it out already, dammit." He bit down hard on the belt, heavy pants leaving his mouth.

"I could have stayed in that helicopter with my father, Korra." Korra's breath caught because in that moment she felt Asami's hand touch her own, "But I didn't because I chose you."

Daw was quieter then. His uncontrollable crying hushed by Wu as he began dousing his face in water and tying fabric around his head and over his eye.

"I only ever want to choose you."

Korra glanced at Asami. Her lovely green eyes, the way mischievous dark hairs escaped her pony tail and hung at the side of her face. The way every part of her looked elegant, even covered in grime and dirt. Even with the faint smell of undead and vomit that hung between them.

Korra allowed her head to rest on the wall as both of their gazes drifted to their hands. Asami's thumb ran across the long wound extending over the top of Korra's palm from end to end.

"I've been wondering… What happened here?" Asami asked, concerned. As if she could go back in time and stop it.

Korra saw herself falling then. Her foot touching on ice. The drop from the cliff side. How close she'd come to dying only seconds later after falling hundreds of feet. How she'd grabbed the vine just a few feet before she hit the ground and allowed her hand to be shredded in order to live.

Now there was only a wound to show for those four horrid days alone in the heavy snow.

"I fell." Korra surmised. Asami nodded, her thoughts working out what that might mean. Why Korra had become so suddenly tight jawed. Not wanting to push further. Asami absentmindedly moved her finger over the rough rise in Korra's skin. A smile touched her lips when her thumb found its way to the toffee skin on the other side of her hand. She lifted the hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss there. She then allowed their fingers to intertwine once more.

"Korra…" Asami searched for whatever she was trying to say. When she looked up she found Korra's concerned expression and looked aside.

"What is it?" Korra asked, "I don't bite - hard." She smiled.

Daw passed into a fitful sleep. Wu began to clean his hands with alcohol and Asami allowed her head to drift onto Korra's shoulder.

"It's so cruel, Korra." Asami said. Korra turned her head so she was resting her mouth on Asami's thick raven hair. In the back of her mind she wondered how it still managed to feel soft and silky to the touch. The woman now resting with her thigh and leg pressed into her own felt so cold. Their bare skin touched and an excited nervousness settled into her body.

All of Asami, head to toe was noticeably cold. A welcome reprieve from Korra's constant overheating. She felt Asami pull her closer, as if she were indulging in the warmth, "I just found you." Asami finished, closing her eyes.

Korra's eyes transfixed on the long dark eyelashes. Taking in the small silver speckles in Asami's skin. The small build up of dirt on her cheek. She used her other hand to graze her fingers over her face, smiling to herself when Asami released a quiet whimpering moan. Asami murmurred, "You're so warm."

No sooner had the words left Asami's mouth there was a loud Crack!

Asami's eyes popped open. Korra head whipped around. The world around them began shaking.

"What the hell is-?" Korra's question had been directed by Wu who was several paces away on a table counting bullets. She didn't finish the question, because the person she posed it to was suddenly crushed by a thousand tons of rock, mangled bodies of undead, and a miscellaneous of furniture and metal that suddenly came barreling through the roof.

The building was collapsing.

The snow had fallen hard over Korra's body. Blanketing her in white. When she awoke it was to the sound of teeth tearing through flesh.

She was cold. Her body ached, but she still managed to push her hands into the foot of snow around her and see what was making the noise.

First she saw the child wolf. It's eyes open, blood frozen in place dripping down the crack in its skull. Then she saw the man's backside.

His shirt was short sleeved. His pants threadbare and hanging from his legs like stragles of fabric. He wore no shoes. And his flesh had chilled over blue.

Korra swallowed.

He was eating something.

She pushed up further in the snow. The effort enough to make her grunt, remembering her body had decided to power off rather than face the pain. Even now her vision blurred, her head swam, her eyes blinked back tears, and the snow still was tainted with her blood.

But she rose up higher.

Two wolves, their bodies laden with snow. They were dead. Gnawed on, not by the man but something else.

By Naga. Her handy work written in the bite marks that had finished them off.

But what was the man eating. Korra grunted, louder.

That was when the man's head snapped around. His mouth covered in the red moisture of blood. His pupils dilating, his heavy breaths reaching Korra's ears. But now Korra could see.

Korra could see he dragged the warm heart of her best friend dripping from his mouth.

Korra felt her heart shatter as she breathed her companions name, "Naga."

Something dripped onto Korra's face and she smiled. Naga. She did this a lot. Korra opened her eyes with a smile already forming on her lips. The damned dog loved spitting on her in the morning for some reason. Spit. Lick. Spit Lick lick. That was always the doggy breath she woke up to.

But it wasn't spit. It was blood.

The blood of an undead as it rolled in heavy drops from beneath the pile of debris it lay within crushed.

Korra looked around. Everything had happened so fast falling. Being crushed. Seeing the rocks and debris. Trying to run away with Asami. Crying for Daw to wake up and move before he too was crushed like Wu.

Korra looked around herself.

The heavy weight on her all but broke her. She could see her leg was pinned. She could hear the undead surrounding her in the rubble.

How many of them had they escaped from on the stairs? How many stories of undead had fallen in on them?

If the rocks didn't kill them the undead would. She had to get free.

But the rock surrounded her on all side. The rock on her leg was unbearably heavy.

Worse, she looked to her right and found the closest undead.

She could tell this one had been a woman. She could tell she had a wedding ring on her finger. She reached fro Korra desperately her grey eyes and unhinging jaw wanting to consume Korra.

But her entire lower body had been crushed by several tons of rock.

Korra stared at her face. Her desperation to eat.

The married undead looked behind her at the rock crushing her, then to Korra. Merely one foot away. So close. The dust began to stir as the woman rocked side to side attempting to be free. If she hadn't been undead it might have been unbearable. As it was the woman felt nothing. She cared for nothing except feeding on the living.

Korra's breath quickened as the woman began frantically knocking side to side. Her body began breaking. With sickening snaps she began to tear her upper body from her lower body. Stopping only to reach for Korra with her grimy hands, to widen her eyes and release a hiss that filled the air with a fowl stench of death.

Korra looked around. The rocks around her were shaking. She'd collapse the space if Korra didn't stop her.

"Stupid bitch." Korra swore. Looking around for a weapon. A rod. A rock. Something. Finally she found one. The undead's body began releasing unholy juices that seeped free of the crushing rock. Her spine snapping, her stomach's skin tearing. She ignored all of what would have been unbearable pain as she continued moving her body back and forth.

Korra's hand gripped the rock a moment. She turned attempting to get a hold of the undead without the wed woman biting her and without stressing her leg.

She grunted and screamed as the rock crushing her leg shifted rather painfully. Not from Korra's effort but from the undeads.

She had to kill the damned thing now.

She tried to get a grip of the woman, their fingers fell into one another's. The undead attempted to pull Korra towards her. Korra resisted, ripping her hands free of the woman's. Finally with a loud Pop! The spine of the undead dislodged from her hips. Her abdomen came to hinges of internal organs and thick blood. The stench was almost unbearable, it overwhelmed Korra's nose causing her eyes to blur with tears. She was closer now. Close enough that Korra could grab her by her long hair and pull her forward.

With a heavy grunt she smashed the woman's head to the solid earth beneath them both. Thunk! Once. She heard her teeth shatter and fragment against the cold ground. But she could still hear the woman breathing. Thunk! The second time broke her jaw. Thunk! The third time destroyed her skull. Finally the woman lay still in Korra's hand.

Korra laid her head back against the rocks.

She took a breath. She allowed the thought she'd been avoiding to cross her mind. The thought she'd hated to even allow because the moment she'd allowed it an uneasy knowing filled her.

Where was Asami?

Had she been crushed?

Would she die here alone?


	12. Alone Pt 2

Alone Pt. 2

The uneven ground beneath Asami's back dug into her spine and prickles of water touched her face. Moments after the sensations became apparent, her eyes snapped open with a sharp gasp escaping her lips. She faced skyward, and all she could see were angry twisting clouds above her, pouring down water. Asami lurched forward, her backside dry in comparison to her wet front. How long had she been lying in the rain?

"Korra," her mouth seemed to say before her mind could catch up with her environment. With the rubble of the collapsing building.

It had happened so quickly. Running out of the building. Korra's last words before being snatched away had been for her to run, "Asami! Go!"

And she had. And she'd just managed to leave the building. But now -

She got to her feet feeling the tight pinch in her ankle and an ache in her broken arm.

She took in her surroundings, startled by the damaged building behind her. Only half the building had collapsed, making the wreckage of metal and cement resemble a stack of pancakes hanging from the side of a plate.

Summoning her strength, Asami limped onto uncertain feet.

"Korra!" She cried into the shifting cloud of dust that surrounded her. She retched back the small fine particles of rock and dirt that filled her lungs, "Korra!"

She'd seen Wu die. She'd seen his eyes widening just moments before his skull was crushed by a rainfall of cement.

She stumbled a few steps, her breath quickening. If Wu had died, had Korra met the same fate?

She had to find Korra.

With one hand firmly tucked inside her makeshift sling she threw out her only good arm and began shoving aside rocks and stones. They crashed at her feet, smaller rocks tumbling free. The dust cloud stirred around her, blanketing her in its dark finger and resulting a short line of vision.

She had to find Korra.

Rain pooled in dry earth slowly turning the ground to mud as her hand pulled down one piece of crumbled rubble after the other.

A heavy rock tumbled downward landing on her foot like a heavy anchor. She gasped, stumbling backwards and directly into the waterlogged hands of an undead.

She heard his heavy breath in her ears as his mouth closed in on her flesh. She shrilled as the reality sunk in just before his teeth did. She whipped her elbow backwards meeting his temple before she leapt into a violent strike, her foot rocketing into the side of his head. A spike of pain shot up her sprained ankle. It rattled her brain just as much as it did the undead's. When the undead fell aside his head pressed lodged in an out jutting piece of metal.

She reached to her shoulder taking a breath. It had all happened to fast. She'd reacted so fast. She pressed her fingers to her skin. Just a graze. That's all it took. A small scratch and she could become an undead.

She inspected the skin delicately, searching for the indentation his teeth would have left.

She shuddered and released the breath she'd been holding. His teeth hadn't purchased. She closed her eyes and thanked whatever god was in the grey clouds above.

She was going about this all wrong. She'd allowed her panic to take control. It was unlike her and it had nearly gotten her killed. She calculated everything. She needed to think about this if she wanted to find Korra.

If she wanted to survive.

That was when she heard the quiet faint-

Clink.

She peered through the billowing cloud of dust around her attempting to pinpoint the sound.

Clink.

She began walking, her feet moving delicately over the earth, her eyes snapping in every direction for the next undead. She needed to pinpoint that sound. That sound was more than likely Korra attempting to call for help. To be heard.

She could see maybe ten feet in all directions. The dusty debris cloud had become unbearably thick. Her feet began moving up a mound of rock and rubble the rain making each step slippery.

Clink.

She waited what seemed like a lifetime and when no sound came her heart sank. Had that been the end? Had the silence marked the death of Korra? She closed her eyes, both to clear them of the small shards of dirt that dotted them and also to hold back tears. But more than anything the action brought to mind electric blue eyes set above a half pitched smile.

It brought the regret of never tasting toffee skin or pressing her body against Korra's in an expression of her love.

Her eyes opened, she had to remain calm. Panic had nearly gotten her killed. Though her heart crumbled to ashes in her chest her words came out loud and strong, "If you're making that noise I need to find you. Keep making noise! Please!" The plea had come so unexpectedly. But now another one poured from her lips, chalked with desperation, "Please!" She shuddered in the rain pouring down her face, matting her hair, washing away the blood and gore that had clung to her body.

She closed her eyes a moment if and saw a nightmare. She saw the scarred arms of the girl she'd fallen so unbearably hard for. They were pinned beneath rocks. She could see electric blue eyes wide and void of life.

"Please." She harkened into the settling silence.

Heavy breathing came from behind her. She turned as the unhinging jaw of an undead came at her. She ducked beneath his hands, twirling behind his back. He turned on shuffling feet to find her. By time he'd done so Asami had lifted a rock from the earth, she smashed him from below, using her calf muscles to carry her upward into the thrust. His neck whipped backwards, he lifted several inches off the ground before sinking down with a hard Thunk! Once he was down Asami sealed his fate, crashing the heel of her foot into his skull.

"Please!" She screamed as a third undead emerged. She dropped the rock dislodging a metal bar from the rubble. Heavy cement on the tip of the metal came free from the pile of rocks. She felt the weight in her hands; the moment he closed in she stepped out her weight on one foot and hammered through his neck, the intention to decapitate him coming up short. He crumbled aside, his neck snapped, his spine rendered useless. His mouth unhinged and he began hissing at the woman standing over him. He was as alive as being an undead allowed him to be but his new anatomy prohibited him from movement from the neck down. Asami dropped the cemented end of the rod down on his head, crushing his skull.

"Ple-,"

Clink.

Asami caught sight of the fourth undead. But she ignored him. The sound had come from her right and now she pushed through the shifting grime and dirt surrounding her. She could smell fire, that's why the dust hadn't thinned out. The dust was being replaced by a steady production of gaseous smoke. Whatever ad wherever the fire was, it had to have been massive to release so much toxic black. To not be doused by the pouring rain.

Asami coughed the soot that filled her lungs, limping across the debris.

Clink.

She moved in the direction of the quiet muffled sound. So quiet that she feared her own graceless footfalls and pouring rain would overcome the high pitched sound.

Coughing, stumbling, and killing only the undead that came directly to her path Asami pinpointed the sound coming from beneath an impossibly large slab of cement.

And then the scent touched her nose.

She gagged with the realization, doubling over, coughing on the soot, her body retching from the fowl stench of a thousand undead. The undead army, Asami thought, they must have breached the walls. Worse they must be a good ways in. From the smell coming her way she gave herself ten minutes.

The minutes and then they'd engulf this wreckage. They would consume her and march onward without a second thought.

She had ten minutes to move several tons of cement or she would never taste those toffee lips and whisper secret love songs across their surface with her own.

Her hands had begun working now. Damn the pain of rocks as they cut into her palms. Damn the screams of sensation from her ankle as she stood on uneven ground. Damn the soot that leaked down her throat and settled in the pit of her stomach.

She worked tirelessly until she'd cleared enough rocks to get a good grip on the slab of cement.

A hand seized her ankle and tugged her down to the ground.

Her back struck the collected surface of a puddle. Water splashed upward and soaked her through. Her teeth rattled, her lungs compressed in her chest, and black bathed her eyes as consciousness threatened to leave her body.

The undead responsible came down atop her, his mouth opened, his cracked skin and slimy fingers cupped her face. She noted his fingers were pruned and slightly inflated as if he'd been immersed in water for quite some time. Asami's clamped her mouth shut, swallowing the nasty mud water that had managed to splash inside her mouth. She fought off his demanding hands pushing him away.

Asami struggled to keep his face and nails at bay until she finally managed to reach her hand around his neck. Rain loosening her grip, she sloppily threw him to the ground at her side. He splashed into the puddle, his jaw clamping shut on his tongue with enough force to sever it in half. He did not react to the tongue hanging from his mouth and flailing sloppily on his chest. He simply began to turn and attempt to consume Asami's face.

Asami rolled momentarily onto the elbow of her broken arm then rolled back with enough force to jam her elbow into his eye socket. His fingers had been practically sacks of mush and as expected so was his skull. She felt his skull cave, his insides smearing onto her sharp bone.

She pushed up from the ground only to feel a second undead grab her waist from behind. He tugged hard and her legs came from under her. Her hand grappled the air for something – anything - as he pulled his meal to his chest. A second undead arrived then. His broken leg dragging through the puddles, his head pitched to the side, and an intent gaze on Asami's exposed flesh.

Asami struggled until the undead was forced to grab hold of only her broken arm, "Gah!" An unholy pain rippled through Asami's body as the undead wound his other arm around Asami's waist. He cradled her as a sacrifice for the undead that loomed ahead of her.

Asami scrunched her legs to her chest and kicked backwards through the chest of the undead in front of her. The force sent the undead reeling back and gave her enough momentum to reverse herself in the arms of the undead, into a position where she could slam her head into the forehead of her captor.

He bucked away and Asami was left with a pounding headache. She hit the ground, catching herself on her good arm. Remembering nothing she'd done would finish the undead off.

They were on her as quickly as she'd gotten them off. But she was armed and ready for them. She swept their legs out from under them with her own. The moment they were down she secured one to the earth with her leg to his chest as she beat out the other's skull. As the second had just managed to get a grip of her leg and usher it towards his mouth she took apart his skull as well.

The fight had left her breathless in a cloud of smoke. She gasped heaving in breath after breath of soot and particles.

Legs swaying and lungs aching, she moved back to the slab of cement. Every motion was demanded, every step a raging war of her mind and body. She asked her limbs to give one more despite knowing she quickly approached a state where she would have nothing left.

She jammed metal into the dirt, between the slab of cement and the earth beneath. She drove it as deep as she could and when the effort was finished the metal was erect from the earth. She slumped against the heavy weight, her arm over its side and hanging down.

Her breath came out shallows as sweat poured down her red face. Her vision blurred. Every part of her body wept from exhaustion.

Nothing left.

Those two words echoed in her mind.

Suddenly her leg gave out. It had happened against her will, and when her knee met the earth she could feel her body hunker down ignoring her desire to carry forward.

Nothing left.

She grits her teeth and tried to haul herself forward only to be met by a cold betrayal of her body. She dropped against the earth like a sack of rocks; her limbs suddenly heavier than the slab of cement she tried to pry free of the earth. Sound sloshed in her ears like they were the hollow sides of a metal can. That was when her stomach knotted and twisted violently, hatefully.

Asami doubled in on herself. A cough came strangled from her throat. She caught the mucus with her filthy hand and pulling away she found clumped blood and soot clinging to her pale fingers.

Nothing left.

Her hand reached for the metal standing erect from earth.

It was too much.

She felt her throat begin to close, her temple begin to throb behind her eyes. She reached upward in spite of this, tears running down her cheeks, her knees split by sharp rocks, her fingers collecting dirt in the tears of her flesh.

She reached with nothing left. She reached for electric blue eyes. But even straining every muscle in her body she still came up short. She still felt herself sink back to the earth, her hair falling over her face. The taste of rain, soot, blood and mud felt heavy on her tongue. She breathed sharp painful breaths into her swollen throat and listened to the wheezing sound that left her mouth just audible above the pitter patter of rain drops against her skin.

Just able to make out the Clink. Clink. Clink. of someone trying to survive.

Of Korra trying to survive.

Her body had betrayed her. It left her to be picked over by the undead that now drew towards her. She could hear their feet moving through puddles and rattling over debris.

"Korra." She whispered, "I'm so sorry." She felt tears run with gravity over her cheek. She felt them mold with the rain falling on her face. "I'm so…" her eyelids fluttered shut, heavy with exhaustion.

She felt a simple yet beautiful release. Her muscles went slack. Her control was given away to her need for things to be still.

She was being called. A voice filled her ears.

A calm, recognizable voice reverberated into her mind's eye. To times when things were good, a smile fell over the pretty face of Asami Sato as she breathed, "Mom."

She shut her eyes then and felt her mother's hands come over her. Her mother's hands drew her closer in her mother's welcoming hands.

The last sound the whir of a hungry belly as an undead began to indulge.

Her last thoughts were of all the good things that had come before she had nothing left.

The last sounds were teeth removing chunks of her flesh.

The undead dragged his limbs through the snow heavily, each motion swaying. Each motion intent on ending Korra. The blood dropping from his hands with entrails stuck to his finger produced steam. Korra watched it for a moment. Like the steam edging skyward and disappearing Korra was about to become a forgotten reality.

She'd never been confronted with an undead. Not since her mother. And even now knowing that her mother had been that – an undead – Korra had a hard time wrapping her mind around the thought.

This was someone somebody, too. She thought. Someone's son. Or best friend. Someone's lover or frequent customer. But now he was a hollow shell that was intent on eating Korra.

She began to shake, fear penetrating her even deeper than the cold of the snow surrounding her. He built snow around his body, not bothering to lift his legs as he moved, no, he wasn't smart enough to use that reasoning. He shifted back and forth until he was atop of her, snow piled high to his waist nearly. If fell over on Korra's face as he leaned over, grabbing the girl's wrist. Dread and fright turned her muscles stiff rendering her incapable of fighting back. His skin felt colder than the snow prickling her nose.

Unceremoniously he moved to take his first bite.

As the undead's teeth approached her neck, she saw her mother. She was suddenly standing once more in the hospital. She gazed down at her mother's face in the first stages of decay. Her blue eyes glazed over grey. The way every pore was abundantly clear. The way she froze when the first bullet hit her spine. How she'd turned and there had been so little blood ebbing from the wound, and hat came out was a dingy brown clotted cream.

How ugly it had been.

How unnerving.

The eighteen year old girl was confronted with these memories so quickly that it took her a moment to see. To remember that there was an undead moving right then to make her a dead eyed as her mother.

It was that moment Korra realized what the undead were. Why they were so powerful.

Their eyes. Their blood lust. Their stench. Their misfortune.

The undead were not the people she loved.

Korra grabbed the hair of the undead wrenching his head back she inspected his face.

The undead weren't something to fear.

She brought her fist down on his throat. He hissed, unhinging, attempting to catch her fist as she reared it back to land a second fist. He hissed as his neck popped awkwardly aside.

Korra released him then and he fell forward onto her stomach. He unhinged, accepting this even as a way of making a meal. But Korra's hands clamped down o either side of his head and with a cry of fury and desperation she twisted the neck violently from the spine.

He lay still then and Korra cast away his corpse.

What Korra had to fear wasn't the possibility of death. It was death taking the people she loved.

Humming.

She could hear it above her. Almost as deafening as the sound of a thousand undead converging on her.

Rain touched her body sending shivers up her spine.

Skin being sliced through. She knew the sound well as the sound of a machete making purchase.

And that humming.

No. Too rotational and rhythmic to be humming.

Her skin felt suddenly dry as a harsh wind raked her body.

A hand pressed down on her thigh. Someone was shouting.

The undead were coming. She could smell them.

And still that rhythmic sound.

Asami tried to open her eyes but they refused.

She cursed her body and then understood the humming. It was the sound of helicopter propellers swishing through the wind.

Had her father come back for her?

Why could he not leave her to die in peace? Why could they not leave her in the-

Unimaginable pain.

Her eyes flooded opened at the realization that something more pressing than death had happened to her body. Someone had bitten her. She knew that. She'd fallen unconscious to the sound of them ripping through her flesh.

But this... this was not the sensation of thirty two adult sized teeth chomping through her lower extremities. This was something else.

This was someone else.

It was a man with broad shoulders. Not broad like Tonraq's though they both had a slender waist and muscular build.

There was a man crouching over with hazel eyes and a fiercely determined face.

There was a man crouched over her and he was dragging a machete through her flesh.

She screamed, she wanted to push him away, but two powerful hands held her back. The second set of hands that clasped around her neck; they pulled her between two small breasts and held her down as he sawed off her leg.

"What are you-," her words were cut short by her own screaming. She screamed as if the world were on fire. And by the feeling of her bone being sawed through the world was on fire. Every nerve in her tired aching body was screaming to get away. But those hands held her in a vice.

"Hold her still." The man instructed, "Asami, you have to calm down!"

But she wouldn't. She couldn't. She could only focus on the horrid site of her leg coming undone from the rest of her body.

Her eyes went left to the undead with pieces of her flesh still moist in his mouth. Her eyes went right o the second undead who had gone after her foot.

Finally she looked at the man, his back was to her, and he raised back the machete. She had only a few strips of her flesh holding on, all that remained attaching her leg to her body. She outstretched a hand, and screamed at him, begged him not to-

He brought the machete down and he severed it clean. Just below the knee and everything went dark.

"What did you do?" Korra demanded.

She'd just met the General for the first time. After her father had pulled her from beneath a slab of cement. Right before Jinora had radioed she'd found Asami's body. Radioed that she had been bitten.

Korra's heart had stopped. She'd felt even more weak in her father's arms. She'd turned her head and began to sob, "I told her to leave." She'd cried over and over, "I told her to run."

The General had lurched into action the moment he'd heard Asami's name. He'd moved to the cockpit and all but shoved Lin aside as he got them airborne.

Korra felt like screaming, demanding to be lowered down and going to pull Asami out. She'd kill the undead that had taken Asami from her. But the General had other plans.

He'd searched the ground with a light shining through the shifting smoke. He'd found Jinora. He passed Lin the controls and in seconds he'd leapt from the helicopter with only a black rope and machete in hand.

Korra had moved as well. She didn't know what she could do, but she couldn't do nothing.

Doing nothing had gotten Asami there.

When she'd been buried she'd heard Asami calling. She'd heard her pleas for some kind of noise she must have made. Korra had stayed silent. It had killed her, but she had hoped if Asami thought she was dead she would leave the wreckage before she got overran. Before she died trying to save Korra.

But if Asami had stayed and attempted to comb through the rubble in order to find Korra or Daw.

She couldn't live with herself. Her father refused to let her go though.

"Korra, your leg." He reminded her referring to the bloody mess. Korra shook him off, stepping to the pit door. She felt weak. Her body swayed. She couldn't leap from the helicopter like the General had, even if she had a rope. Doing so would result in her being even more injured than she already was. So she held on to the metal and prayed the General would bring enough vengeance to the undead responsible as Korra would have.

Below was mostly smoking. Even with the light trained she could only see smoke.

Then she saw black hair bobbing through. Maybe it was Asami maybe it was-

Her heart sank. It was Daw. His face scratched, one arm drenched in blood. In fact it was a fair assessment to say half his body was drenched in blood. His head was still wrapped in a bandage to cover his eye. His lips bloody. But he limped towards the rope. She managed to wrap the rope around his one good hand and around his leg. Tonraq stepped up; he grabbed the rope and began to pull. Daw must have been light because it only took seconds.

The moment he was inside Korra pounced, "Where's Asami."

"Holy shit. I thought I would die down there…" Daw said slumping against the wall of the helicopter, his eyes set in a gaze.

Korra grabbed the delirious man by the jaw her words deliberate her eyes so violent it must have terrified him from whatever daze he'd fallen into, "Where. Is. Asami?"

He spoke his words with a daze in his eyes, "What a crazy bitch."

Korra grabbed him by his collar, slamming him against the wall and grit her teeth, "What did you just call her?"

"Korra," Tonraq stepped towards Korra ready to talk her down from breaking the bastard's neck. He stopped when Daw spoke again.

"N-n-no," Daw stammered, his words almost rushing together, "It's j-just…. I-I mean…Its smoking and raining and the place reeks of undead. Not to mention thousands more are coming and a building just collapsed on top of us. And rather than run like hell - like a sane person would have - Asami starts digging me out of two tons of rock. She must have taken down five undead with a broken arm, a sprained ankle all without being able to breath." His eyes looked horrified but exhilarated, like he'd just gotten off a rollercoaster with no seatbelt, "She's fucking insane."

Just as the words left Daw's mouth Asami's blood curdling scream ripped through the radio. Korra's blood ran cold. Not a single occupant in the helicopter had been able to prevent the initial jump when the scream pitched. It sent a tightening feeling into Korra's stomach as he hands came from around Daw's collar.

A sickening feeling washed over Korra.

The terrible scream continued, Asami's voice breaking in as she began to beg.

Korra's mind filled with images of Asami being eaten. She filled with images of her limbs being ripped apart by mashing teeth. She turned her head aside, not strong enough to hold back tears, not weak enough to cover her ears.

"Hold her still." the General's voice cackled over the radio, "Asami, you have to calm down."

"Please." Asami begged through sobs, "Plea-," A hard sound came and her screaming shortly ended.

Korra's breath pitched in her lungs; she looked over her shoulder at her father. Wind whipped her hair back and forth over her face. She could just see the undead army marching, just reaching the wreckage. In seconds they would be consumed.

Then came more movement.

Jinora exited the cloud of smoke first and in seconds had the rope in hand. She grabbed it and nodded up at Tonraq. Korra helped pull the girl up her eyes never leaving the ground below.

"We've got her." Jinora said already seeing the questions forming on Korra's lips.

The General broke through the smoke with and easy twenty undead five yards behind him. In his arms he carried a limp bodied Asami Sato. He wound the rope around his and Asami's waist, "Up! Up! Up!" The General's voice cackled to life from the radio. Lin didn't hesitate, the helicopter shot skyward. Korra grabbed the doorframe tightly her eyes moved momentarily to Jinora who had rigged up a flame thrower and was heating a piece of metal.

"What are you-,"

"We need to pull them up, right now." Jinora said coldly. Korra didn't remember Jinora being so cold. She didn't remember when she'd gotten bags under her eyes, or her face had sunken into such a tired state. But she recognized it. It was the same face Tenzin had carried last winter when he'd lost his family.

Her heart ached as she realized she'd put that look on Jinora's face when she'd murdered her mother.

Tonraq gripped the rope tightly in his hands, "Korra!" Korra shook her mind of the thoughts, her hands coming around the rope. She felt Daw come behind her. His eyes with a deadly determination as he, Korra and Tonraq began heaving the General and Asami inside.

The undead overcame the wreckage swallowing it whole. Their hands reached to the skies as if to praise the gods that soared just beyond their reach.

The General handed Asami into Tonraq's hands. With a grunt he hauled her inside. He passed the limp body to Korra. Without hesitation she lifted Asami to a nearby chest of guns. She laid her atop the shut lid and her hands came to each cheek of the beautiful face.

She'd heard Asami screaming. Now she was quiet. Maybe she could hear that voice one last time. Was that such a selfish desire? To hear Asami's cool elegant voice?

"Sami," Korra tried to smile, "Sami, it's me." She cooed as the General boarded, "Sami, I have to tell you something." Tears fell from her face, landing softly on Asami's pale cheek. She brushed the water away, oily grease covering her hands, "I love you." She said selfishly, her eyes taking in the peace in Asami's sleeping face, "Like I've never loved anyone else."

The General shoved her aside then. Korra stumbled back, her father catching her in his arms as Jinora moved in. She'd heated a slab of metal until it burned a fiery red. Korra raked her eyes over Asami's body. Her eyes made their way over her face, chest and arms then finally her legs.

That's when Korra saw Asami's leg had been cut off.

Her anger flared, primal rage took hold she lunged for the General and felt her father's hands clamp tightly to her shoulder blades, "What did you do!?" She screamed.

But the man's focus had turned elsewhere. It had turned to placing the searing metal against the exposed flesh of Asami's stub leg, "This isn't going to be hot enough. We'll have to put the fire directly on it."

Korra couldn't stop herself then. She assailed the General, her hands clamping around his neck she shoved him against the wall, he spread his arms refraining from burning her with the hot metal he held, "What the hell is wrong with you?" Korra asked, "Who the hell do you think you are arbitrarily deciding to hack off her leg?" She roared.

"I'm Iroh and I'm trying to save my wife's life." Korra's heart stopped and he leveled her with an passionately deadly glare, "And if you love her like i do then you'll let me."

Korra's eyes took in every inch of the handsome man's face, trying to detect a lie but finding no such thing. Her words felt heavy on her tongue, "You're her husband?"


	13. Regret

Regret

4 HOURS AGO

Mako could feel the battle coming. He could feel it in his bones and it made his stomach uneasy. Kai and he rest side by side on sturdy table tops. The home they sat in had been abandoned by a family.

Kai had commented on the image of a little girl's school photo, dated three years ago. She would have been in the fourth grade when this all happened. What had come of her?

"Don't think about it," Mako said, "it's a rabbit hole that leads to nowhere."

Still, lying across their dining room table, looking up at their deities on the walls, Kai couldn't rid himself of her innocence.

"You made four children orphans." Mako said coldly to him shortly some time later. Some time after Kai had tried to remove a tear without Mako seeing.

"I didn't mean to."

"But you did. And it sucks. You can hold on to that weight or you can choose to ignore it. Not forever. Just for now. Until this is over."

Kai looked at Mako. A rock. Focused. Even knowing he may never see his brother again.

"You're not a monster, Kai." Mako never stopped looking through the scope of his rifle, never lost focus, "You're impulsive, lazy even, but you are not a monster."

Kai wasn't sure if Mako was trying to nurture him. No definitely not. Mako wasn't the type, Bolin, Opal, even Korra sometimes could be nurturing. But not Mako; he relied on facts not feelings. And Mako was right. There was a battle coming.

As if his thought had queued them the sound of gunfire began swelling closer and closer.

Kai took a breath, pressed his eye to the scope of his sniper rifle and examined the streets.

Below Amon's military drove their vehicles towards the inner gate.

They were waiting for the last of the supplies to be delivered. Then they would close the gates and no one would be allowed to enter. Even with a thousand undead.

Selfish bastards wanted the resources to themselves.

Kai watched the car. It whipped around the building with three more behind it.

"You got it?" Mako asked.

Kai took a breath, his finger ready on the trigger and sweat sliding down the side of his face.

He went somewhere else for a moment. He went to that horse. To that night when he nock an arrow and sent it spiraling into Pema body. Jinora. Meelo. Ikki. Kohan. All of them made orphans in that one action alone. Despite the tattoos riddling his back, Kai had never taken a human life until that night.

"Kai, we can't let them get those supplies."

The sixteen wheeler would be in their sights for another twenty seconds then they would reach the inner wall.

Kai continued to hesitate.

"Kai!" Mako exclaimed with less than five seconds left to make the shot.

Four.

He remembered the man's face. His wide flat nose.

Three.

The broken glasses on the bridge of his nose and his protruding fat lips.

Two.

The sniper rifle hammered in Kai's hands, the recoil jammed into his shoulder.

One.

The bullet had hit the driver directly in the side of his ear. His head rocketed against the window, smashing spider webs into the glass as his brains drained onto his shoulder. The front tires of the truck yanked right and the vehicle swerved. Rocks kicked beneath the tires as the truck turned on its side and collided with the hard earth. The friction produced an ear splitting squeal as metal grate across the solid earth.

In the seconds that followed all hell broke loose.

A battle cry was pried from the parched throats of White Lotus members as they all raced from the safety of suburban homes. The desperate hundred carried knives tied to brooms and gardening tools sharpened to a point.

Amon's military mounted guns from the safety of the wall. On command, with little hesitation and even less compassion for the oppressed, they unleashed a smattering of gunfire that tore through the brave bodies below like warm bread.

In seconds the distance between the wall and the suburban homes soiled with blood. The dry earth absorbing the life that leaked from the broken bodies of the dead. With each desperate stride the White Lotus fighters took they trampled the bodies of the fallen ahead of them.

"We need to take out those shooters atop the wall," Mako said lining up a shot. He glanced to the boy on the table top beside him, his legs in bent leg position. His eyes locked straight ahead and removed from the world around him.

"Kai!" Mako shouted.

Aim. Fire. Repeat. Simple right? So why couldn't Kai bring himself to do it?

Taking an angered breath Mako lined up a shot and felt the rifle hammer in his hands. He watched his victim stumble to the side in surprise, his feet lost traction and he slipped over the side of the wall. His body carried, smoothly by gravity, trailing blood through the air as he sank into the callous hand of the cold earth below his body becoming little more than a speck of mangled blood and bone.

Mako moved on. He'd just lined up a decent shot when a bullet whipped through the glass of the window above his head. The glass puckered and gave way as the bullet rooted itself in the statue of a deity.

"Kai!" Mako exclaimed tackling the boy to the ground before two more bullets spit through the glass of the windows.

Glass exploded across their backs and Mako felt the young boy beneath him shaking uncontrollably.

He'd done it again. He's taken another human life. How could he live with himself after doing something like that? How could the world ask a fourteen year old boy to do something like that again?

Mako pulled Kai to the protection of nearby walls.

"We need to move. We need to take out those bastards atop the wall or we'll lose the inner wall." Kai did nothing but stare at his quivering hands.

Mako clenched his jaw and pinched the bridge of his nose, "You don't want to be a killer? Fine! Whatever!" Mako grabbed the boy by the shoulders, and growled his words ferociously, "But in case you haven't noticed the world has come to be all about kill or be killed. You want to wallow in your self pity?" A wail pitched somewhere in the distance. Someone cried out in agony, "You wait to wallow when there aren't hundreds of people losing their lives. You wallow on your own damned time. Now grab your rifle and get your shit together."

Mako waited. What would it be? Kill or be killed. The world had been asking every survivor that question for the last two years and now Kai had to give an answer.

Kai sat still. Frozen.

"Useless." Mako grumbled before beginning to make a move for the door.

Kai grabbed the tail of his shirt and yanked him back.

"You're going to get yourself killed," The shaken boy said, sweat falling over his dirty face. He moved past Mako, working to stay low. He grabbed the table leg and with a firm yank the table went cap side, covering the window.

They both lunged into action, taking their rifles and making a run for the doorway.

Bullets smashed through the windows, carving the air with high pitched whistles.

They dashed down the hall, the walls so thin that the bullets tore through them and the next. From atop the walls Kai could imagine how it looked. The two of them vanishing and reappearing as they passed windows.

Light holes began flickering behind their path. Wall paper flew, wood in the walls erupted, insulation singed from burning bullets, and glass puckered before falling to the floorboards in thick sheets.

Kai closed his eyes, whipping his head aside and lifting his hands to catch the lightning shards of glass and splinters that clipped and snipped his flesh to ribbons. He pressed behind Mako as they made their way to the nearest stairwell.

Mako reached the stairs first, free of the windows that allowed Amon's to hunt them so easily. He threw himself down a stairwell and Kai collapsed atop him.

Inertia caused the two to tumble halfway down the flight of stairs, before Kai managed to catch their teeth rattling fall. Heaving heavy breaths of exhilaration the boys recovered to their feet, with massive grins on their faces.

"Are you alright?" Mako asked. Kai assessed himself. Cuts and scrapes riddled him head to toe. But none of his countless wounds were life threatening.

"I'm fine." Kai said.

They had just begun to laugh when something registered on the older boys face. The older boy looked down, noticing the dripping sensation as it rushed down his pants. Then he dropped backwards down the next six stairs.

PRESENT

By time they reached the first inner wall Asami's leg had been scalded into submission. Her burning flesh had engrained itself in the hairs of Korra's nose and she knew she'd never be rid herself of the images. Of exposed flesh. Of sawed through bone. Of boiling blood.

She didn't hear when Bolin got in the helicopter. Only saw his shaken face when laid eyes on Asami's grisly mutilation.

He hesitated. His breath lodged in his throat and despair overcame his good-natured smile.

Korra said nothing. She knew that look in someone's eyes. It happened when their mind encrypted them with traumatizing memories. Memories that would playback as nightmares every time their eyes closed.

Bolin gave Iroh a radio that crackled with someone giving information, "The migration will be at the fences in thirty minutes..."

Korra stood then. She saw her father standing and watching his defeated daughter.

She looked down on Asami's body. Her arm on the floor. Her hair still dripping small puddles of blood and soot. Wordlessly she slid her hands beneath Asami's limp body and tucked her frame into her chest.

Pain registered in the far corner of her mind. She'd just had several pounds of rock removed from her leg. Her flesh still gaped exposed and damaged. She ignored the nerves that screamed at her to relive the weight she carried.

But Korra never got to put down the weights she carried. That was the price of calling herself a leader.

They'd touched down in the overgrown garden of a bombed out mansion. Half the home stood untouched, the other half a mix of charred wood and caved in roofing.

Nurses came rushing from the mansions overpass. They had a gurney between their hands. As they drew closer Korra held Asami tighter. A part of her wanting to never let the woman go. When the nurses came to a stop in front of her, she knew Asami needed their capable hands and with a heavy ache in her heart she lifted the woman onto the bed.

She leaned over then securing Asami's arms atop the thin bed and brushing the slightly singed raven hair from Asami's lovely face. Korra's hair matted in the rain and dripped onto Asami's pale dirty cheeks. Without thinking she ran her finger tips over the face. How could she still feel so soft? Her eyes took in that grace and beauty in pieces. She searched for aching green eyes that were consumed with kindness. For a resilient smile and graceful confidence.

She searched for the familiar woman she loved in the ambiguous ashes.

"Asami," She whispered, her thumb tracing across the smooth rise and falls of Asami's lips, "You're strong enough to beat this. You always have been. Please don't leave me."

Bolin had only known Asami for a few days, but he liked the woman. She was surprisingly kind, strikingly beautiful, and had an ambitious fierce streak.

He couldn't imagine having to cross the distance from the outer walls to the inner rings of Ba Sing Se. Being surrounded by hundreds of undead. He knew how that could make people so close they became family. Surviving life and death situations did that.

That's why he hesitated as he approached Korra. He wasn't yet sure what he could say to make her feel better. But he could sense his best friend's depression.

He leaned his weight against the balcony where Korra stood. They were only a few feet away Asami lay in bed. Iroh ran a damp cloth over her forehead and Korra watched longingly.

"Opal is doing better," he said to break the ice; "Suyin says she's not out of the woods just yet, but with each hour she gets a little stronger."

"How did they even manage to find you guys?" Korra asked.

"Suyin and Tonraq came in carrying a white flag." Bolin beamed a brilliant smile, "Opal was so glad to see her mom. So was Suyin. I'd never thought I'd see Suyin cry. Even Wing and Wei stopped bickering long enough to greet their sister. At first Iroh didn't want to help rescue you guys but then we got word that we'd lost the inner wall. And Tonraq said you were with Asami. Iroh was more than interested when Tonraq mentioned her." Bolin cast a glance to the man as he removed more grime from Asami's cheeks. "Now I guess I know why."

"They're married." Korra said with disbelief.

"Yeah…" He tried a smile out on his lips, but he couldn't even fake that joy.

The truth was that the undead were lining their walls at that very moment. That the second inner wall had been broken up in certain places from bomb raids and repaired with high fences. That sooner rather than later the fences would give out under the weight. And they had only a couple of hours before they were overrun.

"Korra, I know you feel guilty about not saving Asami's leg." He spoke slowly. He'd never been good with sad words. He preferred happy ones.

"I didn't hack it off." Korra glared daggers into Iroh's back.

"I know… but…"

Bolin trailed off, his eyes shifting between Korra and Asami. He gasped covering his mouth with his hands and his green eyes bulging with disbelief and awe, "You and Asami are together!"

Korra grabbed him roughly by the collar and hauled him into the hallway, praying Iroh hadn't heard Bolin's revelation.

Once they were outside Bolin's face broke into a smile from ear to ear, "I can't believe it you're…" He tried to find the right word. His eyebrows knit down, his lips screwed up to a corner of his face and he tapped his jaw, "Hmmmm… Well I know you and Mako were dating for a couple of weeks so you can't be a lesbian unless-,"

"Bolin," Korra groaned, "it doesn't matter. She's married. I wish she weren't, but…" She turned trailing off; watching Iroh as he stood up secured a machete on his hip then pad from the room. He glanced at Korra and Bolin as he went the opposite direction down a hallway, away from the people he led.

Moments passed and Iroh's body vanished down the darker end of the hallway. Finally Bolin spoke, "Remember last winter? We were being attacked by wolves every night, we were hungry and cold. We were ready to die. You told us we choose our own paths. We make the best decisions we can with what little information we have. And sometimes we come up just short of the things we want in life. But sometimes, we find something incredible. Sometimes we find mercy, peace, or even love." He smiled sadly when Korra's eyes turned to Asami. His friend loved his other friend. And he couldn't be happier for them, "You remember what you said next?"

Korra couldn't pry her eyes from the sleeping woman, "I told you not to lie down and die. Because doing so would take away our ability to choose better paths."

Bolin nodded. "So go choose a better path."

Korra shook her head, "It's not that simple."

Bolin looked down the haul where Iroh had gone.

"It is. You said so yourself."

Korra shook her head once more, "I didn't come up with that. Tenzin did. He said that to me a few weeks after I lost my mother. But Tenzin never fell in love with a married woman. He never crawled through hell only to find another hell on the other side."

Bolin's eyes glazed over with remembrance. Of Pema and his children, "Didn't he?"

Maybe it was instinct that made Korra follow Iroh to the collapsed portion of the mansion.

Moving to the side of the walls where the floorboards were less likely to creak and avoiding the puddles made from holes in the roof.

He ducked inside a room, and a few moments later the flickering light of a candle came to life.

Then she heard Iroh's voice.

He spoke.

She stepped closer to hear the conversation.

"…Should know what put humanity here," he amended with shame thick in his voice, "That I put us here on the edge of extinction."

She had words for this man, and with less than six hours to live she could fill them spilling out before she'd even rounded the corner and made her presence known.

He stopped mid sentence. His eyes flickered up and Korra moved forward.

Based on the soft colors, frilly curtains, and overturned chest of toys, Korra surmised they were in a child's bedroom. She looked Iroh up and down. He held a tape recorder in his hand.

"What do you mean you put us on the edge of extinction?" Korra asked.

Iroh stared at Korra. She could imagine how she looked. She'd cleaned up – or rather allowed her father to clean her up. Everything had been so unreal. Watching the nurses try and bring Asami back from the edge of death. Watching them pump blood into her veins. Treat her wounds, search for other bite marks, redo Iroh's half-educated attempt at a field amputation. It had all been so draining.

She could feel the bags under her eyes as if they were a ball and chain on her feet. Iroh could too. He took a few steps back and sat down in a rocking chair. He laid his semiautomatic over his lap and took a deep breath.

"I've never been good with words. But Asami…" He trailed off with nostalgia placing a smile on his lips, "She's magic with words. She'd have done this easy. She'd have known all the right things to say." Shame and regret laced his tone, "I should have left that magic alone. Now… she hates me."

"Of course she hates you!" Korra thundered, "You cut her leg off!" The moment the words left Korra's lips she knew she couldn't contain her rage. She raised her fist and mentally fought the desire to attack the man. She then jabbed a finger in his direction, "You ever consider maybe she didn't want that! Ever stop to ask her why she was screaming so loud at you to stop! And for what?" Korra demanded, "So she could wake up and do it all over again! One more time feeling herself be eaten alive? How can you be that cruel?" She stopped the words before they'd entered the space between them, how could Asami love someone so cruel?

Her voice echoed into the space, her breaths were labored out and just barely overshadowed by the sound of rain hammering against the roof.

Her hand had found her gun at some point. Maybe there was a point in killing someone a few hours before their set execution. Maybe at the end of the world, there was only vengeance.

"Taking her leg is the least of my sins."

Korra huffed breaths, "What are you talking about?"

"One month ago," Iroh began, "I took Asami's hand in marriage. That night, she and I lay in bed together. We'd never…" he trailed off, "I knew I couldn't make love to her without telling her the truth." His jaw tightened, "That I green lighted the nuclear bomb we dropped on Republic City."

"You what?"

"You remember two years ago. No one had ever seen anything like it except in horror movies. You have to understand, back then we didn't realize that simply being exposed to the blood of the undead was enough to make someone test positive for the infection. We thought that the positives were the telltale sign of someone in the process of turning. We knew so little about the infection as a whole, to be honest.

"We knew our ground zero was a sex slave. She and several other girls had been trafficked through Kyoshi Island. The Island is the first record of the infection we had and at that time was a hub stop for traffickers. We assume that's where she was exposed to the infection. They then got trafficked through the boarders even after they'd been shut down.

"We knew she'd transmitted the infection to all of the men she'd had relations with. The first few men who came to the hospital didn't tell us they'd solicited sex that's why it took us days to place a common link between them. And by then it was too late to slow the infection down. One of the men was a construction worker, a school teacher, an attorney, a pilot… The infection was spreading so fast through blood, urine, saliva, even scratches from the nails of the infected. When we finally managed to find patient zero and bring her in we had three hundred cases where individuals had died and turned.

"Varrick Pharmaceutics had doctors and scientists working around the clock trying to understand the infection. After several days with no fruitful results they attempted to treat tissue from patient zero with radiation. The infection seemed to be cured then. High percentage of the infection was eradicated from her body. I intended to pass the information along to higher ups. But then I found there were no higher ups.

"President Raiko had been moved out of Republic City days ago. We'd lost contact with him and his transport and he was assumed dead. If our military head and city councilmen weren't dead or missing they were testing positive for the infection. The Earth Queen had stopped returning our calls. The Fire Nation no interest in lending resources that could possibly result in infecting their people. Not to mention the civil war between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes."

Iroh reclined his head in the rocking chair. He laughed at himself, "One hundred and twenty seven men and women, with more rank than me and none of them were available. One hundred and twenty seven. And it all boiled down to me.

"We couldn't contain it. Our men were being infected, beaten by angry mobs, not to mention bitten by the undead. Health care workers organized a strike within days, demanding they not be forced to interact with highly infectious people they had no treatment for. Then we found an undead in the sewer system. We had to cut the water. And soon after the power. Everything went to hell after that.

"I had to make a decision before we lost all control of the city. Do I obliterate a city where an estimated eighty percent of its occupants were testing positive for infection? Or should I hope for a breakthrough that wasn't likely to come?"

Iroh shook his head, "Well…" he trailed off. "You know how that story goes. I chose, or at least thought I was choosing, to save the world by obliterating the city. No sooner than we had confirmed impact Kya, one of the few Southern Water Tribe scientists and doctors who had rushed to aid Republic City, came barreling in. She'd fought her way into the room. She'd gotten there with more than one bullet in her body. She was talking fast and was terrified of a rumor she'd heard. A rumor about a nuke being dropped on Republic City. She said she had a theory that the infection that so many tested positive for was not aggressive. She had a theory that it was only being bitten by fully turned infected that was lethal. She had a theory that if we did anything drastic - like nuking them - they would die, and reanimate as the undead. That we'd have more than a plague - we'd have en epidemic. We'd have an apocalypse.

"So you see. This is my fault," he gestured around them. To the stench of the undead hanging heavily in the room. "After that bomb was dropped under my orders whoever wasn't killed by initial impact and died in the fallout blast was reanimated. It took them all of seven hours before they turned. A city of millions wiped from the history books in a blink of the eye and in their place stood millions of undead. That day I damned us all."

Korra's legs had given out at some point. All of her anger had fizzled away leaving only the crushing depression that had brought her to her knees.

Her voice was just above a whisper, "All those people. They didn't need to die…"

Iroh nodded before he continued, "When I told Asami she was disgusted with me. What I hadn't known was that she'd been on a plane. That's she'd just cleared the fall out zone when she saw the mushroom cloud. That she'd witnessed me murder millions of innocent people. That the two jets I'd ordered chase down the commercial flight had almost killed her. And that the burns scars riddling her back had been put there by my haphazard course of action."

He reached inside his shirt and produced a chain. The chain held two silver dog tags. Between them was a silver ring, "She gave me back my ring. She left our tent and that was the last time I saw her before we were caught in a migration. I thought she'd died.

"I don't blame her for leaving. I had lived with so much self-loathing; I expected nothing less for her. I'd trapped her and fed her the lie of me being an honorable man. But where was my honor on that hellish day? To say we won't kill a million men, just to save our own skin?"

The rain fell harder. Lightning cracked the cricks in its neck and exhaled a howling wind. The draft picked up in the room, violently passing through the broken windows. Iroh's candle was extinguished in the strong gust and they were plummeted into a fitting darkness.

"It's funny." Korra spoke some time after the wind had settled down, "Two years ago our decisions were so simple. Noodles or dumplings? Flowers or chocolate? Now everything is life or death. Everything is unforgiving."

The first gunshot came unrepentantly. Iroh and Korra both stiffened.

Without a word they both lurched into motion. Korra took out her own gun and ran from the room. She heard Iroh's heavy footfalls right behind her. Together they made their way past Asami's room. Korra couldn't help but stop to look inside. Iroh hesitated behind her before continuing on towards the direction of the gun shot.

Lin stood over Asami. She had a machete in one hand, "Go. I'll watch the injured."

Korra nodded, and with a final glance at Asami she raced after Iroh.

She exited the mansion door just moments after Iroh. She couldn't see what the shot had been fired at.

"They broke down the fence that fast?" Korra asked. What if one of the little ones had wandered outside of the mansion gates? She'd seen them playing in the underpass of the mansion. Without a second thought Korra hurdled herself forward, her feet splashing in puddles as the rain made purchase with her swift moving body.

"Korra! Wait!" Iroh called after her, before gritting his teeth, "Hold fire! We don't want to hit Korra!"

It was a short run, past the parked helicopter, through the garden, through the gates, over a short hill, until stumbling over slick grass, her feet dug into the muddy hillside and she slid to a halt.

"Kai!" She smiled seeing the boy's bloodied face. She then saw the body he carried.

Her mouth formed his name, but her heart refused to believe the sight, "Mako."

Heavy feet broke the earth and Bolin let out a tormented cry of anguish as he enveloped his brother's limp body with his arms. He tugged him from Kai's shoulder and fell into the muddy hill. Dirt and blood stained him as his brother's head fell back limp over his arms. Bolin hunkered down then, pulling his brother's face close to his neck as he cradling the older man and let out a hoarse throated sob.

Two nurses dashed past Korra. As one of them attempted to find a pulse the other began inspecting the bullet hole in Mako's body.

"He has a faint pulse," reported one of them. Bolin's face set with determination then. He pulled his brother fully into his arms and began hauling his body up the hill. Each step was slowed by the weight of the two boys sinking into the muddy hillside.

Korra looked over at the younger boy. The tattoos on his back exposed. His shirt torn. His face bloodied and scraped with pieces of glass visibly being washed away by the hands of rain, "I came as fast as I could," Kai lamented.

Korra nodded. Mako weighed a time and a half the weight of the slender framed boy. She didn't doubt he'd had to drag the heavy body every inch of the way, "I know."

"I'm so sorry. I tried so hard." Korra moved to the boy then, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"You did good." She reassured him. And he dropped his head against her chest, letting the rain wash over his weary body.

Korra watched the boys shoulders begin to shake. And she felt Iroh come to her side. He stood there with a gun in one hand and the recording device in the other.

Korra spoke with rain water dribbling from her lips, "If Mako dies. If Asami never forgives you. If the undead break down those fences and kill us all. It won't be because the undead killed us. It'll be because we stopped fighting."

The boy in the mud looked up at his courageous leader, "We take the inner wall." She locked eyes with Iroh and the flames burning in them were almost terrifying, "We take the inner wall tonight."


	14. Massacre Pt 1

_**Two weeks without a boo or a bah? I know… I'm awful. I feel awful. Please forgive me. I apologize sincerely. Which is why this finale is two chapters instead of one – Bonus Chapter - that and this beast turned out to be twenty three pages long and I thought "Uh… maybe I should cut this thing in half…" XD**_

 _ **Make sure you're on THE RIGHT PART. Btw, this is PART ONE.**_

 _ **Please enjoy…**_

PRESENT

"We could mount another attack on the wall using the helicopter to take out Amon's snipers. It might buy us enough time to-," Iroh's advisor began.

"Amon's men would shoot down that helicopter long before it could became useful." Suyin interrupted.

"I suppose you have a better idea?" He snapped irritably.  
Her sister nodded, "We circle around the wall and come from behind, their guards are focused here," she pointed to the side of wall nearest their location, "Doing so would allow for a two legged stand."

"Our people would never reach that side of the wall before the fences gave." Lin interjected

"Besides," Iroh added, "we have eighty seven men, not nearly enough to mount a two front assault."

"What about the tunnels in the mountains?" Kai asked, "Can't we just go there and wait for the migration to pass over?"

Lin shook her head, "The migration will flood the city with undead, most of them will get lost in the streets or trapped in buildings." Lin explained, "Even if a majority of them exit the city, the sheer amount of them left behind will be unsurpassable.

Suyin nodded in agreement, "And we wouldn't survive more than a few days underground thanks to Amon's men confiscating our supplies."

Kai clenched his cut up hands into tight fists before spreading his hands wide and exploding with frustration, "Well we have to do something!"

"He's right." Korra sighed and continued after a beat, "None of those ideas will work simply because Amon would never open those gates. Period. He's going to sit back and let the undead exterminate us."

"That's what I've been saying," Iroh's advisor from before agreed, "We should just be grateful of the time we have left with our families. Instead of standing here wasting time."

"I didn't say that," Korra said. She looked to Iroh's engineering advisor, "Do we have another truck? Like the one Amon's men were loading up with supplies?"

His shaggy eyebrows knit down, "I'm sure we can find one, but how is that going to help us? It's like you said: those gates shut tight."

"That's why we're not going through the gates." Korra's statement brought a certain silence to the room. She turned and looked out the window. Below, filling the immense garden was the immense helicopter, "We're going over them." She waited for the attention to return inside the room, Suyin shaking her head ready to object, "And we're taking a trailer filled with undead with us."

Silence. Then-

"You can't be serious," Iroh's most conservative advisor said, "haven't you seen the hell on earth the undead are responsible for? All the people they killed? All the-," he broke off shaking his head, "It's more than monstrous, it's unacceptable."

"The monsters took our supplies then left us outside the wall to die," Jinora reminded him.

"So that excuses everything we do to them in return?"

Tonraq broke his usual calm silence, "If this were Amon's men would he even be having this conversation?"

The advisor shook his head, "I can't believe the level you're all willing to sink to in order to save your own skin." The older man began exiting the room.

"Where are you going?" Iroh inquired.

"I'm going to go spend these last few minutes with my wife and grandchildren. If any of you want to hold on to your humanity, I'd suggest you do the same."

After a moment of indecision footsteps marked the five men and women who seemed to agree. "Anyone else?" Iroh asked. No one moved. "Good." Iroh moved on without even seeming bothered by the disloyalty that had just been displayed. But Korra understood just as Iroh had. One way or the other those who had left were doing what they thought was right, "I guess the next question is whether this is even possible?"

His engineering advisor pursed his lips, "A Yasuk 47A can lift about eighteen thousand kilograms. Removing the trailer from a truck, plus the undead, the mounted gunnery, presumably five passengers…" he hesitated making quick math, "It's possible." He then added his anecdote, "Absolutely insane, but possible."

Lin rolled her shoulders and crossed her arms, "We still have to solve the problem of getting atop the wall and opening the gate. This is all for not if we can't bring in reinforcements to completely take the city."

"I have that one covered," Kai said to everyone's surprise, "What?" he looked around the room at skeptical eyes, "I'm allowed to be smart too."

"Alright, kid," Lin shrugged, "What do you got?"

"Harnesses. I'm sure Amon and his men confiscated more than a few when they brought in all those bandits. He probably didn't realize what they were though. We used a harness to get over shorter walls people erected around the compounds when we raided them. They work with gas pushing against small but powerful fans that are strapped to our backs. They've got this claws attached to steal wires. You aim the call at a wall, fire the wires and it winds you in like a massive fishing rod. I bet Amon's guys never figured out what they were for."

Kai paused knowing the thoughts in everyone's mind, "Look, I'm not proud of what I did to survive those first few months, alright? But it can help us out now."

"He can't go alone." Korra said.

"Jinora," Iroh said calmly, knowing the weight of what he was about to say, "You'll go with Kai to scale the wall. You know how to operate the gate."

The two stared at one another. Shame washed over Kai and he looked to the floor. Jinora hesitated before nodding and giving her respectful compliance, "Sir."

1 HOUR LATER

Asami Sato could not recall how she had gotten here. She didn't know exactly where here was. Only that it was dark.

However, she could remember the pain. She could feel it even now laying here. The tormenting pain tunneled into every pore of her body like the fuel of a jetliner. She opened her mouth to scream, and then remembered the smoke. She held in her scream for fear she'd release what little air she had in her lungs.

She searched the room. What looked like a hospital made from what had once been a dining room. She lay atop a gurney, with the head slightly inclined. Her arm lay in a sling over her stomach.

She threw her legs from the bed and groaned as her muscles strained.

Her first step was easy, the second was a reminder.

She came down hard, her hands flipping a metal tray and sending scalpels and tin bowls flying through the air. Her world shifted, falling forward to the side and she sunk down like a brick. The moment her leg made contact with the floor a jarring pain shot throughout her body. She but her head against the floor, reaching down to console the injury but stopping short as she gathered sharp intakes of air.

Could her ankle be so badly sprained? She wandered before looking downward to inspect her ankle.

This time she couldn't contain the scream that exited her lips.

Her leg.

She moved it. She commanded it to move but nothing happened. Only a ghostly presence of something that had once been there but no longer was. The pants she wore had been clipped back at the knee. As if she'd rolled her pants, but instead of exposing her long flowing leg, it showed dead air.

Her eyes bulging she searched the fabric as if she'd find the ligament tucked away between the fabric of the pants.

"My leg!" She began cried horrified. This was a dream. She gasped for breaths that couldn't seem to find her. She gasped and clutched the fabric, "Where the hell is my leg!" Her mind fired commands. Right toe move. Right foot shake. Right knee bend. Right calf tense. Right toes…something. Do anything. Just do. Just be.

"Asami?" Someone said. A voice only vaguely familiar. She didn't care. She kept firing commands even when that someone approached her.

"Asami."

She ignored them, right until they placed a hand on her shoulder. She reacted without thinking, her fingers searched the floor for a scalpel. She reared her hand back and rammed the scalpel straight through the muscles of the hand grabbing at her.

"Ah! Dammit!"

As they recovered she went back to her leg. Shocked at her indifference for their well being, shocked at the terrifying truth they lay invisibly in front of her, but more than anything shocked at how much she'd been attached to the limb and only just now realized it's importance. She felt hot tears stain her eyes.

"Asami-,"

That hand. She wanted to rip it's owner to pieces. Instead she created distance between them and scuttled across the floor with her one good arm, the other in its sling useless, her backside knocking against an overturned tin bowl. With only one leg to drive her back she must have looked like such a freak. They'd made her a one legged freak. She panted, looked down at her leg and once again returned to the fabric. To the sensations shooting through her body.

"Asami! We don't have time for this!" She recognized the boy now. It was a Beifong, Wing. He wore a gun across his shoulders, a machete on his hip belt. "The fences gave out. We need to load you on the bus so we can get out of here. We need to leave now!"

"What-?" Asami searched for answers. Where was Korra? What had happened to her leg? Where was she? Was this some sick joke?

Wing removed the scalpel from his hand, jerking from the sting it produced. He grunted, shook his hand, tossed the scalpel aside and advanced on Asami. Asami scuttled back further and felt her back making purchase with a set of counters. She looked around, her hand took hold of a piece of metal. Light. Blunt. It would be a bloody vicious murder.

Wing hesitated. He took a step back from the girl. He peered into her eyes and saw someone ready to kill him for even one more step being taken towards her.

Asami spoke quickly, her breathing frantic, her eyes flickering to her missing limb, "Korra?" her heart slammed heavily against her chest, her stomach tightened in her ribs, "Where's Korra? She was buried. We need to go pull her out right now!"

"She's fine.

Her frantic words slid to a halt. Her heart erupting in her chest with an uncontainable joy, "Korra is alive?"

Wing nodded, his expression changing as he took in Asami's relief, "Tonraq and Iroh saved her."

Iroh.

The images that rushed into her mind made her drop the metal in her hand to the ground where it clattered loudly.

Images of rain trekking down the bridge of Iroh's nose, before flowing to Asami's exposed flesh and bones below. The light catching the metal of a jagged bladed machete as he reared back his hand. Lightning cracking in the angry clouds all but drowning out her screams for mercy before he brought the machete down with a hard Chunk! The way the jagged metal met her bone and sawed through only half way; forcing Iroh to forcibly dislodge the machete's metal once more before hacking through what remained of her destroyed limb.

Wing kept speaking but Asami couldn't hear. She could only see Iroh's lower lip, tucked between his teeth as he defied her. The way his teeth cut into his lip producing a bubble of blood to mix with the rain drenching him head to toe. The violence of it all fittingly set in a violent rain storm.

"…She got it in her head that we could take the inner wall. Last I heard she was taking a trailer filled with undead over the wall to confront some top dog militant named the Lieutenant." Asami caught the last of his words and a new nausea settled in.

Using the undead to decimate an enemy? It was resourceful and almost poetic all things considered. But it was just another horror for the world to endure.

But wait. Why were they not already in the inner wall?

"Where am I?"

"The second inner wall. But the fences just gave out and we need to evacuate right now before this place is overrun."

They trained their eyes on one another. Could she trust him?

Wing could see her disapproval, "I know you want to see Korra. I know you're not interested in trusting me. But we need to get to the second bus-,"

The scent. The sound. It all filled the room so fast. The undead were close. Unnervingly close. He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't need to.

Asami threw her arm over his shoulder, he snaked his arm around her waist and they shoved up till they were in a slightly slumped over standing position.

At once they both began to make for the exit, slowed by Asami's need to hop with each step. They made it to the rooms exit just as they saw the first undead enter the mansion through the front doors. He was the first of an onslaught advancing, guided by the scent of living flesh.

"Shit!" Wing swore hastily taking in the dozens looming through the doorway, "This way," the well built young man all but hoisted her off the ground then as they quickly adjusted, shifting direction for an off shooting entryway that lead to what appeared to be a hallway shrouded in even more darkness than this portion of the mansion.

"Hurry!" Wing grunted between pants, his hand pinching painfully into Asami's side. The undead swayed, shifting in pursuit of them. He extended his decayed hands.

"Move it!" Wing said as a second pushed in behind the first undead. Then a second. Then a third. Then a wave of them knocking against one another in stupor, competing to sink their teeth in first.

"There's a back door this-,"

An undead swung around the corner stepping directly in their path. His hairless head swam into view with its jaw unhinged and its eyes intent on Wing's neck. The undead's hands seized Wing by his shoulder's and pressed his weight down on them in an attempt to take Wing to the ground.

Wing's arm came free of Asami's waist. Without his support gravity took over and Asami lost her sense of balance. Her mind sent the command for her second leg to catch her fall only for the world to cruelly remind her about what she'd lost. She hit the wall on her way down, banging against her broken arm. She continued to topple downward before settling a top a pile of bloody rags and empty bottles of whiskey. Within moments undead began to swarm her.

Wing reached for his machete and in one crushing blow he hacked through both the wrists of the undead. Wing's second arm snatched the undead by his jaw then drove him back and pinned him against the doorsill before he ran the undead's stomach through with his machete.

Intestines spilling between them, Wing removed the blade and with a firm thrust he split the undead's cranium in half. He turned back to Asami. An undead had roughly pinned her head to the floor, his knee grinding into her stomach as he unhinged his teeth around her slender neck.

Wing took a wide step forward, impaling his machete through the back of the undead's head. He threw the undead aside, using the residual force to cut down the second advancing undead, first cutting through the joints of it's arms, then readjusting his swing to cut out it's knees. As the undead fell forward, Wing pitched low, tugging Asami to her good leg, and pulling her through the doorway at their side.

He moved with his machete ready. His eyes on the long hall ahead of them. Rain water leaked loudly through holes in the ceiling. The loud rain echoed through the hollow hall. With each step light gave way to darkness and darkness placed fear in the pit of Asami's stomach.

"Leave me," Asami said hoarsely.

Wing didn't respond. He kept his eyes frantically darting back and forth, as each struggled step carried them closer to a destination void of any promise for salvation.

"Leave me." She said again.

"What?" Wing asked his face beaded with sweat.

"I'll slow you down and we'll both wind up dead. Leave me." Part of her wanted him to leave her. Not only because he was better off without her, but also because without her leg she knew what she was could be surmised I a single word:

Liability.

No group would ever allow her to remain a member as a liability. No group could look after her as such.

Behind them the undead poured into the haul in pursuit. Their steps staggering and swaying, but intent on seeking out their meal. Their stench bottled into the hollow space almost suffocating them by smell alone. Their writhing heat only that more putrid from the rain that soaked their clothes and the mildew that settled in their decayed flesh.

As if reading some of the thoughts flowing through her head Wing spoke, "I know you might think we keep you around because you're very pretty and scary level smart but the thing is we kind of, you know… like you and stuff." Asami couldn't help but look into the darkness beneath her. She searched for the leg that was no longer there. She'd never realized how much pride she'd place in her legs. How much glory she'd lost with that limb. Nothing would ever be the same.

Wing's words pulled her from her darkening thoughts, "Besides if anything were to happen to you Korra would kill me."

They came to the threshold of a room where the door was shut. What lay beyond the door was unknown. A crowd of undead? An entrance to another room? They couldn't be sure until they stepped inside. But they knew with certainty what lay behind them.

Asami and Wing braced themselves. He wouldn't let her die but some things were out of their control.

His hand reached for the doorknob and turned the metal with all their aspirations riding on what lay on the other side.

Kai had been handed the harness so quickly, strapped in so quickly. That even now, with his knees in the dirt, his eyes pressed against binoculars and his heart thrumming in his chest he couldn't believe how much was riding on himself and Jinora.

To his right Jinora sat silently. Her back rest against a tree, she hadn't checked her binoculars in nearly ten minutes. And if it weren't for the determination in the features of her face, he might have thought she was distracted.

He bit his lip, what was he supposed to say to this girl. How was he to explain what he'd done to her mother?

Making matters worse, he couldn't help but notice how flawless the girls skin was. How obviously pretty she was. How despite the venom underlying every word she'd spoken to him, he couldn't help but be attracted to the sound of her voice.

"There," Jinora said, she stood and Kai followed her lead. Jinora extended a finger and pointed, "its Korra!"

Kai pressed the binoculars to his eyes. He could just make out the shape as it descended from the clouds. The rain hammering to the earth so violently drowned out the approach, but he knew luck wouldn't last.

The helicopter even from here was massive and impressive. And the trailer was even more so, hanging from chords to hooks on the underside of the helicopter. The doors were shut.

Lin had used the storm to her advantage, only dropping down when she'd overcome the wall..

From here they could hear nothing. But the sight was bright and made Kai flinch. An explosion of orange and white as a bullet hit the side of the trailer and cut a clean hole through it.

"Crap they've been spotted." But they were too far up. If Kai could still see them they were too far up to release the undead. Kai's heart strummed harder.

He'd thought Korra had been insane. Filling a trailer from a truck full of undead. Luring them with live bait. He'd thought the mission would be called off long before it started. But seeing the revolving wings of the helicopter splitting the rain drops he allowed himself to believe there was still hope.

The helicopter doors opened, gunmen began to fire, and Amon's men returned it. the helicopter continued to descend in the sky rapidly.

Even Jinora, deep in some dismal state of depression seemed to be pulled back to the world for a brief moment, "Korra did it. She actually did it."

Kai and Jinora both looked at one another, a wide smile on their faces.

There was hope.

Tangible hope.

He hesitated, trying to remove the smile from his lips, feeling flames on his cheeks, he scratched the back of his head, "Jinora, listen, I-,"

"You can't undo what you did." She cut him off, "You can't wash that blood away. But a good place to begin atoning for your murder is to save the children of the woman you murdered."

Kai hesitated again. It wasn't forgiveness. Of course not. It wasn't even kindness. It was a statement of fact, that there was a good place to start.

Bang!

Their eyes both snapped to the wall. The helicopter had just release the payload. It was making a get away. Round after round of red and orange explosions came from the mounted guns of the aircraft.

Kai smiled. They'd done it. They'd actually done it. They could take the-

The flash blinded him for a moment. A single explosion followed by three more as fire touched the undoubtedly large fuel line. The helicopter was torn apart in mere fractions of a second, its occupants and metal blown to pieces and reduced to soaring senders in the sky.

"Korra!" Kai cried dashing from the safety of the tree line; he aimed the claw for the wall and watch as it shot out and took purchase.

"Kai! Wait! They might not have been able to open the trailer and release the-,"

Jinora's words of caution were wind as he pulled the red lever at his side and felt his entire body be yanked forward.

Gas spat against the fans in his belt with a loud hissing sound. His arms and legs were thrust backwards behind him sloppily becoming victims of the violent turbulence against his body.

He had to get over the wall. He had to see that Korra was okay. She'd have done the same for him. Hell, she had done the same for him. She wouldn't even be in this mess if it weren't for him.

His teeth rattled in his skull, the rain whipped against his skin like a thousand chorded whip. He shut his eyes and felt the sting against his eyelids.

And when the gas gave out, the fan system stopped propelling and the chord stopped being eaten by the gears at his back. He opened his eyes.

Gravity hit his lungs like a brick wall; taking away what little air he'd managed to gulp into his lungs.

He began soaring as momentum took hold. The rain around him slowly began to drift to what appeared like a stop at his side. He took everything in. He was above the wall. His arms and feet fell forward. Below him the guards took in the boy that seemed to fly with utter disbelief, their mouths agape, their jaws slack.

"What the-,"

Kai unslung his bow, noc and arrow, and released. The arrow zipped through the air as a man took aim with his gun. He didn't have time to take his weapon from safety, before Kai fired a second arrow that lodged in his eye socket, slamming him backwards with such a force that he stumbled back three wide steps and toppled over the other side of the wall.

Kai felt gravity against his body, determination in his mind, and when he looked down wandering why he'd come to eyelevel with another soldier, but still sank downward he found he'd just barely overshot the wall and was plummeting to his own death.

Korra's face lay in the mud. Rain blanketed her cheek; new wounds opened the old on nearly every point of her body.

A hard pressure fell across her abdomen and it took her a moment to register it was a foot. It rolled her over in the mud so she lay on her back, and when she opened her eyes she first saw the sorrowful sky that wept an all consuming gloom across the desert lands.

The next thing she saw was just as strikingly beautiful, but nothing about it was natural. It was the nuzzle of a gun extended from the hand of a man with a mustache. She only needed to look upon him briefly to recognize him as Amon's right hand. As the Lieutenant. He smirked, he'd thought he'd won. His men collected together around her, their guns raised.

"So is that it?" he asked her. Korra's eyes drifted to the sky once more. She'd done it. She'd gotten the undead into the trailer. She'd found a way to get atop the wall and open the gates. She'd journeyed through hell for the chance to have a happily ever after with the striking woman she'd fallen in love with.

She looked over at the trailer just a few dozen feet away. And all that had stood between her and everything she'd ever wanted was a thin piece of metal, locked into place, and keeping the undead from breaking free. Her Trojan horse rendered ineffective by a mere piece of metal.

Blood began to stain her vision from a head wound. Her body remembered she was in pain. But that didn't stop Korra from rolling back onto her stomach and outstretching her arms, painfully clawing through the mud. She had to move that metal piece. She had to set the undead free. She had to take the inner wall. She had to ensure that Asami would survive. Whatever came after that simply didn't matter.

Rain splattering the shrapnel wounds in her back Korra began to make her way through the mud. One inch after another.

The Lieutenant shook his head, "I've never seen something so pathetic." Said one of Amon's men.

That same man stepped through the mud just in front of Korra. He took another step, his foot landing atop her hand, weighing down, crushing her bones.

As Korra gasped for air, his second foot hammered into her jaw, flipping her onto her back in the mud. The Lieutenant "tsked" to himself, he extended his gun, the nuzzle to her temple, "You should have just stayed outside the wall. At least then you could have died with your friends and family around you." he cocked his gun, his finger pulling back on the trigger.

Kai overshot the wall by mere inches. His heart slammed in his chest realize the mistake he'd made in his haste to help his friend. The wall seemed to rip past him then as he fell. His hands reaching to catch a brick, a stone, something to stop the descent.

His eyes drifted down, the ground rushed at him.

What had it been worth? Two dead men and what? The gates wouldn't be opened. Korra would die. Mako would die. It was no stretch to say everyone he cared about would die.

All for nothing.

His body lurched then. A hand snatched hold of his forearm. His head jerked skyward to the flawless skin of the young girl above him. She gripped him tight, but the rain made their contact slick, he felt himself creeping downward. Her body pushed to its limit to hold on. She grit her teeth at the sound of men coming at her from both sides. They hollered in confusion at how it was she'd gotten up the wall.

Her grip was slipping, her hair dripping water from her face down to Kai's. They stared into one another's eyes. They seemed to be speaking the same language.

Their eyes burned with anger and anguish. They said that it couldn't end like this. They couldn't die meaninglessly.

Jinora's grip tightened around Kai's arm, her nails dug beneath his skin and with every muscle in her body straining to their maximum limit she swung him atop the wall. Their skin released, her arm still strained she whipped her leg into the chest of the nearest gunman.

Kai overcame the wall; an arrow already nocked his first shot to the man who had been calling the shots. His second arrow to the man who began to cry out that there were intruders.

Jinora whipped her numb arm into the face of a man, the water slick on his face making the attack sting. Her attack was weak, she'd torn something throwing Kai, she realized. That light sting encasing her arm was becoming more and more ferocious by the second. This fight had to be fast.

The boulder man stood a staggering two feet taller than her five foot stature easily. He was built like he ate entire hams for dinner.

She took a few terrified steps back, before steeling her resolve and charging forward as well. When their bodies met she leapt into the sky, high enough to grab his right shoulder with both of her hands and ram her knee into his stomach. He wound his arms around her back and began pummeling her ribs with such powerful fists it brought images of sledge hammers to mind. With each blow to her ribs she felt the bones collapse and bruise inside her body. A second blow to the same spot hit her with such a sharpness her vision blurred and she felt the unmistakable sensation of a rib breaking.

Gritting her teeth Jinora used the grip on his shoulders to push upward and gain enough leverage to bring her elbow down atop his head. It didn't deter him from landing two more bone crunching blows. Thinking only of gleefully splitting his skull in half, she brought her elbow down violently. The enraged blow must have finally registered because he stopped wailing on her ribs and focused on pulling the slender framed girl off.

His attention was too late, Jinora was unbendingly pissed. Even more violently than the last she dropped down her elbow with such a force that it sent painful vibrations through every bone in her arm. The blow hurt him more and he began to stagger about drifting in and out of consciousness. With one hand still gripping his shoulder, she used the other to pry his head to the side, and then dropped a finishing elbow to his exposed neck.

Kai reached for an arrow and found he had only one remaining from the ten he'd started with. Bodies littered the ground around him, arrows in vital arteries and eye sockets. More than two had been unlucky enough to fall from the wall. A gunmen was taking aim in front of him and he made a quick decision not to fire his last lucky arrow. Instead, he ducked below the nuzzle of the gun as the first round touched the air.

"Shit!" The man said as Kai broke into his personal space far too fast for him to react.

Kai dodged under the extended arm of the gunmen, jabbing his hand into his throat and watching him double over. Kai looped his hands around the gunmen's neck and brought him forward onto the flat hard surface of his knee. The force was enough that when Kai released him the gunman simply slumped onto the ground unconscious.

Two paces away Jinora was once again being charged by an arriving man.

Jinora dodged aside from the man. The man's eyes widened as he realized he now raced towards Kai. The young boy dribbled back on one leg and sent a rotating kick into the side of the man's face. The force sent him flailing for the edge of the wall. The rain parted as his body slipped through a puddle and was all but over the side when Kai punctured through his lower leg with a machete and pinned him to the ground, half his body hanging off the edge. Jinora and Kai looked around at the waste of bodies surrounding them.

"We're a good team," Kai acknowledged. And Jinora nodded.

A bell began to be rung. They knew they were here; they'd be doing every kind of protocol to keep those gates closed. They needed to get to the control room right then if they wanted those gates opened.

"Let's go," Jinora turned already making her way to the gate's control room. But Kai's head had whipped to the inner wall. To where Amon's men were collecting around Korra who lay on the ground.

The trailer doors were shut. The undead weren't wreaking havoc. They could open those gates, sure, but Amon's men would cut them down without the undead as a distraction.

"We need to open those trailer doors," Jinora said, her eyes intent on Kai.

But his eyes were trained on what took place just a few hundred yards away. His eyes on Korra's face, filled with so much pain as a man pressed his foot onto her hand.

He nock his last favorite arrow.

He wanted to kill the man for hurting the woman who cared enough to give him a second chance.

"Kai, those doors have to be opened." Jinora reminded him. But he had only one arrow.

Korra's face was knocked back from the force of the man's foot into her jaw.

"Kai," Jinora whispered, seeing the indecision. To save his friends life or to save the lives of everyone outside the gates.

Life or death. Flowers or chocolate.

"Kai-,"

Feeling the arrow release in his hands, he looked aside uncertain of whether he'd just made a mistake.

 _ **I hope you enjoyed this first installment. There's a second half of this chapter coming out later today. I think I've said that already. Who knows? I've slept all of twelve hours in the past three days. Thanks so much for reading. I love your comments and I love people who leave them so please do drop one.**_


	15. Massacre Pt 2

_**This is a two part chapter. Make sure you're on the right part of THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.**_

 _ **I first shipped Korpal (Korra/ Opal) and then I realized how adorable Bopal (Bolin/Opal) was and couldn't resist. Plus Korrasami is Queen! That being said… I apologize in advance.**_

 _ **This is PART TWO….**_

6 MONTHS AGO

Bolin blew a gust of his breath into his hand. It wasn't pleasant. He popped a mint in his mouth and smoothed his hair, "Bolin, time." He said to himself checking his reflection in the rest stops bathroom mirror. "Bolin, time!" He sang.

He turned and exited the bathroom with a smile on his face and his eyes forward. He ran smack dab into Opal.

He stumbled backwards a moment, "Gah!" He screamed.

The young girl in front of him blushed, "Sorry," She said helping him collect himself, clasping his arm in her warm hands. He came up short, looking at the contact of her skin to his. It felt nice. More than nice. It felt incredible. She felt incredible. She was incredible.

Bolin time.

He straightened up and cleared his throat, his pulse loud in his ears, "So…" he drew out the word with as much allure as he could, "Opal," he rolled her name on his tongue and puckered his lips sexily.

"You're acting strange again," She sighed, cutting off the contact with his arms and beginning to walk away. He dropped the cocky stance he'd taken and raced in front of her. They stood in the back aisle of an abandoned gas station.

"Waitwaitwait!" he exclaimed jumping in front of her and knocking over an row of shelves in the process.

He stopped short as the sun came through the windows outside bathing Opal's skin in light, catching in her green eyes. God she was pretty.

She raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"So you know how you know how to read?" Opal hesitated deciphering his intelligible words before nodding, "So you do this thing when you read where you put up your hair. You use to use that clamp until you broke it. So the other day I saw you reading ad having to brush your hair from your eyes ever few seconds. So… uh…"

Why did she have to be so pretty?

"Words words words," he said, reaching in his pocket her removed a clamp, "Tada!"

The clamp wasn't all that pretty. It was green, and a bit large, it looked like it belonged to the tip of a young girls braid. "It's not so pretty," Bolin admitted, "But if anyone is looking at you they probably wouldn't be able to look away from your face anyways."

Opal's face broke into a smile, "Ah, Bolin." She smiled, "That's so sweet." She took the clamp from his hand and he felt butterflies swarm his stomach. She took up the small bangs around the edges of her face and pinned them back with the clamp.

"It's some kind of vegetable I think,. Broccoli? Kale maybe?" Bolin added, "I know you love your vegetables."

She smiled, "Well, whatever it is, I think it's lovely. Thank you, Bolin." She reached up on her toes then and delivered a chaste kiss to his cheek.

The boy swooned, inhaling her sweet scent, feeling the light touch of her chest against his own, her hands on his arm lightly pressing down so she could reach his height.

The giddy young boy melted and swooned.

PRESENT

Wing wrenched the door open all but throwing Asami inside as he spun and slammed it shut three arms of the undead came through. Hungry teeth bit around the wood of the door, their nails digging into the wall as the undead attempted to claw their way inside.

Wing rammed his shoulder against the door with everything he had. With her one hand powering behind her, her other shoulder on the floor, Asami began kicking the door with everything she had. Their combined force just enough to pin the arms. Standing above her, Wing quickly began hacking off the arms with his machete as Asami took up leverage against the door from below. With a reverberating click the door finally shut. And they were still, heavy breaths expelling. Asami's eyes turned to the three arms on the floor.

Wing looked around and ran to a bookshelf, without a thought he toppled it forward. Asami shrilled, realizing Wing's intent just within a fraction of a second and yanked her leg back before it could be crushed under the weight.

As if struck by lightning they both remembered that they hadn't cleared the room they now stood in. Asami scuttled around to face the expanse behind her as Wing adjusted his grip of the machete and faced the room as well.

Three of the four walls were filled with shelves. Only once or twice did the shelves break and allow for a closet entryway. The ceilings were so high Asami could only see dark shadows after a certain point. In start contrast to the black shelves hung a wide expanse of curtains on the opposite far wall. Though the curtains seemed moderately untouched from the dust and water that leaked from the ceiling, they still reeked of smoke from the mansion fire all that time ago.

The most notable detail of the room was the young boy pressing his back into the curtains and whatever surface lay beneath.

His dirty cheeks were stained with tears. His hands gripped his crossed arms and his legs were pulled to his chest.

It took Asami a moment to register the face. With Wing's help she hopped towards the boy, "Bolin?" She asked.

The boy did little more than look up. Asami noticed a hair clip in his hand. It was faded and green and looked odd in his big chunky fingers.

"Bolin, what happened?" Wing asked moving them further into the library, "Where's Wei and mom and Opal?"

Bolin shook his head. Wing's breath caught, and when he put Asami down on the ground he dropped down beside his two friends. He glanced at Asami. His panic clear in his eyes. The young man took a deep shaky breath, he clenched his jaw. He prepared himself for the worst news imaginable, "Is my family dead?"

Bolin shook his head.  
Asami placed a hand on his knee, "What happened?"

"Weren't you guys on the first bus out?" Wing asked. Bolin nodded. "Then what are you doing here. You said you would protect Opal. Where's my sister, Bolin?"

Just then a scratching noise came from behind them. Asami and Wing both jerked their head to one of the two closets breaking the long expanses of shelves. Something dawned on Asami then, "Where's Mako?"

At the sound of his brother's name Bolin shuddered and fresh tears made their way down his face. he shook his head, "He's gone. My family is gone." he broke off, saliva dribbling from his locked teeth and his eyes raking the floor for answers he couldn't find, "It's all the Lieutenants fault!" he thundered, "He took all the medical supplies and Mako couldn't have the surgery done without them We were on the bus when he finally…" he shook his head, fresh tears cutting through the dirt on his cheeks, "Some guy named Tahno just dragged him through the aisle of the bus. I tried to stop him but those people on that bus, they were animals. They agreed to what Tahno was doing. It took five guys to hold me back otherwise I would have killed Tahno. They had no problem watching him open the doors and throw a body out like it wasn't a person anymore. Like it wasn't my brother anymore.

"I'm sorry I left Opal," Bolin cut off looking at Wing whose face turned from anger to compassion. Asami remembered then that Wing had lost his older brother Bataar. "But I couldn't just leave him there lying in the mud. He's my brother."

Wing looked to the closet, listening to the scratching sound, connecting the dots, his face filled with a new disbelief. "Bolin," Wing began slowly, "Did you not sever his spine?" He paused trying to grasp the reality, "Did you let Mako turn?"

"Bolin," Asami gasped, "That's not true, is it?" But the boy looked up at her, a shame so deep in his eyes that Asami didn't need further confirmation, "Oh God."

They sat in silence then, listening to Mako beat against the door, trying to claw his way through the wood.

But there was another underlying sound, Asami realized. A crinkling sound. She glanced behind her, certainly the bookshelf keeping the undead contained outside the door was still holding? Her eyes confirmed that the shelf was just barely being knocked by the undead on the other side. So where was that sound coming from?

She with effort she used a table nearby to stand and propel herself towards the curtains. The sound came again.

A soft Wam! Followed by that odd crinkling sound.

With one violent tug on a dangling string the curtains parted.

Wam!

Asami gasped and stumbled back as the face of an undead filled her view.

If the floor to ceiling window hadn't been between them, the unhinging undead would have gotten a sizable bite of Asami's face.

Wing and Bolin both stepped away from the parting curtains and took in the sight.

Dozens of undead moving about just outside the glass, they looked at them with their dead eyes before rallying forward and pressing into the glass.

"What the fu-," Wing began.

Wam! The undead's unhinged jaw thrashed against the dusty window. Its residual salvia and dried blood smearing with dust as its deranged eyes singled out the men and women inside as a potential meal. Below the unhinged undead was another whose hand reached from the overgrown grass. One of its legs had been hacked off forcing him to crawl across the earth. Its stomach was slick with mud, large pieces of wood and bits of metal had embedded in his stomach and legs. Another undead had no lower jaw instead half of his face had been torn apart by bullets from a shotgun.

Regardless their deformities they all banged on the glass demanding they be fed.

Asami stared at the man with no legs.

Was that to be her when she died? Crawling through the mud on her stomach, dead eyed and hungry for living flesh?

The first undead reared her head back, she sunk her teeth into the glass, small spider webs forming as her teeth made purchase and were snapped upwards, puncturing her lip. She didn't care. She thought only of her need to devour. It was all too easy for her to rear back her head once again and sink her teeth into the glass. Her front tooth dislodged from its rotted gums and fell down her tattered blouse. Unfazed, she reared back again her gums flattening against the window, spider webs extending from the point of pressure.

The cracks reached out wide, and when a dozen more undead pressed in new cracks began to form.

Wing began cursing repeatedly under his breath. Bolin only sunk back to his knees and rest his back to the glass. An undead dropped to his knees as well and began banging on the glass directly behind Bolin's head.

Wing couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. There was simply no way out. They'd be overrun and consumed by the collecting undead.

When Asami flipped a table on its side the sound made him jump. He snapped his head to the fierce young woman. She had only one instruction for him, "Give me your machete."

Wing's following thought was along the lines of 'thank God for Asami Sato.'

The nuzzle of the gun to her head, Korra closed her eyes.

It had been an insane thirty minutes. First taking a trailer outside the fences. Running in front of a heard of undead and leading them inside the trailer. She'd gotten a report that there had been four casualties as a result of the chase.

They'd flown the undead high into the thunder clouds. It had been a turbulent ride only worsened by Lin's general inability to see much more than a few feet ahead of them in the stormy weather. When they finally made their descent the Lieutenant had opened fire. Korra had opened the doors of the helicopter, with Iroh and Suyin taking up gunnery weapons it had been a fire fight. Suyin had been shot in the arm, Iroh's weapon had malfunctioned.

Then came the shoulder fired rocket launcher that had blown them from the sky.

"Brace yourselves!" Korra had just barely formed the words before impact. She had been unconscious for maybe ten seconds and awakened amidst a free fall just moments before her body banged down atop the trailer. In the same breath she'd felt the trailer itself hit the ground and throw her free several feet.

Now she lay in the mud, a muzzle pressed to her head.

Death had finally caught her. A bullet to her brain would keep her from turning. All things considered, this was a good death. The gates would never open. All of her comrades and those civilians would die. Asami would be one of them. She only prayed that Asami remain unconscious so she wouldn't suffer the horror marching towards them.

She heard the Lieutenant pull back on the trigger of his gun then-

Thong! Like a bell. A beat against a hollow shaft. Beeping sounds resonated quietly just above the sound of falling rain.

She only needed to open her eyes briefly to confirm that there was an arrow sticking from the bolt keeping the trailer full of undead shut. Korra didn't hesitate, she turned her head aside, covering her neck with her hands and tucking in her legs.

The glance had confirmed that the arrow was one of Kai's favorite specialty arrows. It was his last resort arrow. The arrow had no head. Instead it had a round tip that eventually would flatten and stick to whatever surface he fired at. She knew that this arrow was not meant to impale but instead was wired to-

Boom!

The doors were blown from their hinges. The nights darkness and clotted out sun made everything seem an ominous blue. The explosion was vibrant and illuminating like a small white sun shining on the earth.

"What the hell?" One of the men asked

A burning stench filled the air. The stench of slightly charred undead. There heavy breathing escaping their lungs. A slow swell of their sound as they made their presence known.

"Undead! Undead in the walls!" Someone called and let lose a line of fire as the first undead shuffled through the unhinged doors. The undead took the bullets in stride, not a bullet purchasing in a fatal shot, he'd gone five feet from the doors before being killed. When he dropped, five more undead took his place. They attempted to contain them, to push back the waves of them before they could grow out of hand. But everyone had to reload, and most of everyone only had two clips.

Amon's military opened fire as the undead spilled from their containment in droves. Dozens of them expel air through their unhinged mouths, their eyes flashing with glee. They'd marched through deserts for this meal. And now finally they could feast.

Amon's men began collecting as a single unit firing squad, even so well trained and hammering down the undead there were simply too many of them pressing into a small space.

They began drawing back attempting to take out as many as they could. Before-

The shots began fading; the armed men reached for new weapon clips but had none. The undead continued pouring out and Amon's military was out of bullets. The undead stepping free now seemed to stop. They seemed to look around. As if wandering where their bullet was. The Lieutenant firing squad all slowly stopped firing. They took a few steps back and for the first time fear settled over their faces. The hesitant undead looked at the firing squad with his cold empty eyes, he unhinged his jaw and released a vile his, leaning forward and spreading his arms at his sides.

The squad all seemed to shrill as the undead began barreling forward at a running pace. His friends joined him, launching from the trailer and swarming the inner wall. Screams pitched into the air as undead sunk their teeth in. Handguns were drawn and shots were fired deliberately before the gun owner was caught off guard and dragged kicking and screaming through the mud where he was mauled by three hungry undead. Gunmen attempted to climb the roofs of cars only to have their ankle seized by undead and shredded by clamping down teeth.

The Lieutenant had yet to recover after a few seconds. Korra took her chance and slapped the gun from his hands.

She rolled over in the dirt and onto her hands, pushing herself up from the ground; she smirked, waved four fingers towards her chin and pouted her lips, "Come on. Fight me, chump." She took up a fighting stance as the Lieutenant circled around her.

The lieutenant shook his head and removed his machete from his belt buckle, "It won't change anything. Some of my men will die, sure, but that just leaves more rations for me. All you've done is ensured my survival." He swung for her with his machete. She easily blocked his arm, dashing forward; she clipped his jaw with an arcing fist. As she lifted one foot in an attempt to kick the man, his ankle linked with her own, pinning her foot to the ground as he slashed with his machete for her face. She thrust herself back as the machete just barely grazed her cheek. The lieutenant removed his ankle from the locking position it held on her own. The slippery mud beneath her feet was slick and she stumbled back into the hands of a welcoming undead.

She reacted quickly; taking hold of his wrist she spun free and threw the undead towards the lieutenant.

The Lieutenant hacked through the undead's neck and as the undead dropped from view Korra's solid body assailed him with a two scissoring kicks. He ducked the first and was caught in the eye with the second. The Lieutenant was thrust aside by the brute force of Korra's foot, his hands catching in the mud as he sprawled to the ground; his eyes rapidly blinked back mud and dirt.

Korra continued her advance on the man. He jabbed the machete in her direction but with one eye his aim was just off. She easily took hold of his wrist with one hand and pried the machete free with the other before smashing a fist into his throat.

The lieutenant gasped falling backwards in the mud and clutching his throat as Korra continued forward, mud and rain parting with each decisive step. He fell forward into the mud, his hands pushing out. Korra's eyes watched the hands for a moment, wandering where they could be going.

She realized and dove to the ground as the Lieutenant whipped around, armed with the gun he'd intended to execute her with just moments before.

The gun shot rang and Korra looked up in time to see the Lieutenant aim once more for her head. She froze. He had her dead to rights.

But the undead had him. He threw his body atop the Lieutenants like a blanket, one of his straggly hands turned the Lieutenants head on the side as he unhinged and took his first bite. Blood popped free and the Lieutenant screamed in agony as the undead shook his head back and forth shamelessly burrowing deeper and deeper in before pulling back and removing a chunk of his flesh. The man screamed, pushing the undead off and into the mud. The undead's natural sway caused him to slip and fall but he kept coming. He'd gotten a taste and he wanted more so he trampled through the mud and rain on all floors, kicking aside the softened dirt beneath his arms and knees as he made his way back towards the lieutenant. The Lieutenant rose his gun taking aim and firing a round into the undead's skull. The force threw the undead back where he slumped on his side in the mud.

Korra was already in motion, grabbing the hilt of the machete she sent the blade flying, tucking head over heels and making impact directly with the Lieutenant's trigger hand.

The lieutenant gasped, the machete imbedded between the softer flesh of his knuckles. He still took aim and fired.

Korra dove aside once more, her stomach hitting a puddle of mud and an undead falling on top of her instantly. The undead straddled her back. Korra reached behind her, grabbing his neck and flipping his body over in front of her. Behind her she could hear the Lieutenant also being swarmed and firing round after round on advancing undead. She needed to clear these undead before he collected himself enough to kill her.

The view was disturbing. Dead droopy eyes on a small frame. She'd wandered why flipping this undead had been so easy, now she knew the undead had turned as a child. He unhinged as she took a firm hold of his matted blonde hair and bashed his head into the mud puddle beneath them. She sunk his head low beneath the softer layer of dirt until he hit the hard rock beneath. Pulling back she could see his jaw had been broken, she rammed his head again, his eyes bulged from the skull, but she could hear him breathing. She smashed the skull once more and felt his brains lazily creep out from cracks in his skull and into her hands.

She flipped over onto her back and found a second undead closing in on top of her. She powered her foot through his chest and sent him reeling in the mud. She managed to her feet quickly as she caught sight of one of Amon's men taking aim at her from a few feet away.

She rethought her attack on the second undead. Instead, it was a female undead, she grabbed her long dirty hair and ripped her back wards pulling her flush against her body. Amon's military man began to fire on Korra, with each bullet meant for her, she felt it instead make purchase in the undead's body.

The Undead shook from the impact, but didn't falter. He continued wrestling violently in Korra's hands to consume her. She advanced on Amon's man with the undead as a shield, one hand tucking the undead's arm behind it's back the other in its hair. She could feel the weak scalp of the undead so far decayed that it began pulling away from the head itself, tearing with the strain her hand placed on it.

With three feet between them Korra released the undead shoving her atop the man who took aim for the head and fired. Decisively. What he hadn't noticed was the undead shuffling behind him that now bit down hard into his upper arms and propelled him backwards to the slick ground below as they began to gorge on the living flesh.

It was the metal against her temple that made Korra halt in her tracks. She swallowed and turned around slowly to the muzzle of the Lieutenant's gun pointed directly at her head.

"Die bitch." He pulled back on the trigger and was rewarded with a short click. He looked down at the weapon, out of bullets.

Korra attacked then. One hand on his mid arm, she dropped a heavy kick on his head. As he fell to the ground she fell atop of him, her hands around his throat and tightening.

The man's eyes bulged and death began chanting in his ears. He struggled, his hands clasping around hers, the rain water that consumed them did nothing to loosen the grip. She ground her teeth and pushed down further and further.

It seemed to be silence then. A peace. He flipped over, bucking her hands for only a moment before she retook his neck between one barring arm and held her wrist with her hand to reinforce the grip. The Lieutenant struggled still. His mouth open and shutting to bring in the much needed air but to no avail, Korra wasn't going to relent. She sat, their knees entrenched in mud, blood and dirt peppering her wounds, her body aching terribly and the rain soaking the world. The Lieutenant struggled. Kicking the mud, his finger nails digging into Korra's skin.

And when he'd just managed a tight grip on her hands, Korra decided then, changing her hand position, she twisted his neck beneath her hands and heard the residual snap of his spine and skull.

The corpse fell to the ground limp.

Korra's arms fell at her sides, "I'm sorry." She heard the threading sound of tires in the mud and looked to the gates with tedious effort. They were open and her cavalry stormed the city.

Kai had succeeded. He'd opened the gates. Now their small forces flooded inside. They took Amon's few remaining men by surprise. Hammering into them and the undead alike with their fresh supply of weapons. The undead had served their purpose. They'd decimated the majority of Amon's military. The Lieutenant, head of Amon's military, now lay dead in the mud.

They'd taken the inner walls.

Asami would be on one of the arriving buses. She stood up slowly thinking of green eyes. They'd done it. They'd found a way to survive.

"Korra," Said a quiet strangled voice. Her body aching she looked around for whoever had said her name so desperately, "Korra," the voice croaked. She looked around. At some point the fight had taken her a good ways from the trailer. Now she stood in what appeared to be the hanger of a military base.

The mansion had taken a lot of the helicopter's debris when they'd been blown from the sky. The roof was caved in, large pieces of the helicopter weighed against it even now.

She moved towards the wreckage. She'd been so caught up in the fight she'd forgotten she, Lin and Iroh and Daw had been aboard the helicopter.

She limped forward, her body suddenly calm enough to remember how much pain she was in.

When she stumbled further into the darkness of the garage she did so with a piece of metal in her hand, her eyes darting back and forth for undead.

"Korra," she turned a corner and found the voice belonged to Iroh.

The man had been impaled with a propeller from the helicopter. It rose from his abdomen and cut into the sky as if an angry god had speared him through.

His mouth trailed blood to his shirt. To his right was an undead. He'd been mauled on. Korra could imagine it. Waking up to the feeling of an undead chewing through his arm. He'd killed the undead with what looked like vigor and a rusted screw.

Korra sunk to her knees at his side. She didn't need to be Katara to know he wasn't going to make it. It was a wonder he was still even alive. She took his limp hand in her own, his reflexes causing his fingers to fold down.

"Korra," He said again, staring straight forward, unable to muster many words. "The," he blinked hard and shuddered as an untold pain rippled through his body, "recording." Korra nodded understanding, "Pocket."

Korra's hands splayed over the man's body in search of the silver device until she finally pulled free the recording device, "They should know, Korra. The world should know."

Korra nodded and smiled, suddenly wanting to bring meaning to the death in her hands, "We won the wall," Korra smiled to the man's dead eyes, "We won because of you."

Iroh shook his head and cleared his throat; the flow of blood ebbed but only for a moment before it continued to leak from the corner of his mouth, "Because of you."

They sat in a silent solace with one another. She'd just finished taking another man's life. She'd been the hands that had massacred Amon's military within the inner wall. This was what victory felt like. But somehow holding the hand of a man who was just as deeply in love with the same woman as she was, this didn't feel like victory. This felt like a tragedy. The truth was she could have been in; the only reason she wasn't was sheer luck.

"I don't want to turn, Korra," Iroh said. Korra nodded. She could kill the Lieutenant - it wasn't pleasant - but he'd earned it. Killing hundreds of men and women without trial. Leaving hundreds more outside the wall to die. It was a necessary evil.

But iroh, even after having brought about this horrid world had done so I order to save the horrid world as it was. The same could be said for Kuvira, betraying her when she needed her most, but even still she'd only done so out of a natural desire to survive, just as Korra had betrayed her humanity by bringing the undead to Amon's doorstep.

Her hesitation showed on her face. Showed in the way her hand began to shake while dutifully clasping around Iroh's.

"Korra," Iroh plead, "I don't want to be one of them." He extended the bloody and blunt edged screw to her, "Please don't let me be one of them."

Korra felt her hands come undone from Iroh's. Four hours ago, when she'd found him in the nursery she'd wanted to kill him for what he'd done to Asami. It would have been easy. She'd reasoned that at the end of the world there was only vengeance.

"Please." The man plead once more, then he took a deep breath. Cheney stokes settled in, his last breaths of life were hard gasps, "Take care of them for me. Take care of-,"

He was silent then, his head dropped to the side. His eyes settled on the earth. His mouth streamed blood. Protecting people. Betraying beliefs. All of these things Korra had done. It was like being asked to kill her own reflection.

Korra looked away from the man, her mouth drawn into a hard line.

She'd been so wrong then. To think vengeance lay at the end of the world.

With a horrified cry of disgust she pressed the flat headed screw into Iroh's neck. The sound of his flesh parting as she pushed in, the thick rusted steel in her hand cutting in, blood coating her hands, she gasped, and grunted, burrowing deeper still. The blunt edge and ridges confronted one slow obstacle after the other. She gripped his head with her other hand, holding him in place as she made her way through his spine, until finally she'd run the man's neck through.

She felt tears roll down her face, stinging her busted lip as she removed the screw; blood released and swam over Iroh's shirt. Hands shaking she released her grip of the instrument, and listened to the music of rain as the screw clattered to the ground.

Heavy footfalls announced a new arrival. "Korra?"

Her father encased the young woman in his arm, his eyes taking in what she'd done for only a moment before he lay his head flat on her own. She released the pain she'd been holding, shuddering into the storms cold air she began to sob, clutching the arms that wound around her.

"Sh…" He whispered to her kindly running his hands through her hair, "I've got you."

But he didn't. No one had her. Not even Asami. No one could promise what tomorrow would bring.

"Mercy." She said into the crook of his arms. She could feel him dip his head towards her, and release a soft 'Hm?' from his throat, "At the end of the world all there is is mercy."

Asami's body was no longer meant for climbing. She ground her teeth. "Damn this," She swore reaching for the next shelf, her leg came from under her and she felt the world tip back as she came crashing down.

She'd attempted to climb the book case near the glass window. It was their best way out. She held, tucked under her arm, a table leg wrapped in some of the cloth ripped from the curtain. She allowed the leg to fall to the floor.

Wing walked up behind Asami, "Let me help you." He said seeing the young woman's struggle. She closed her eyes. Her pride in self sufficiency so greatly bruised with just that statement alone.

She slowly nodded and felt his hand take the table leg from her. He climbed the shelves almost easily, tossing books from the shelves as needed to make better foot holds. He finally reached the top.

"Now what?" he asked Asami who had pulled herself upright in a comfortable sofa.

"See how that panel of windows is separate from the rest of the glass?"

"Yeah?"

"If we were to open it there wouldn't be enough space to crawl through, so we need to just break it. Use the table leg."

Wing nodded and began beating the window senseless.

Exhausted from the short climb, she placed her attention on finding where Bolin had gone. She looked around the room and found the young man had moved towards the closet door where Mako attempted to beat his way out.

Not Mako. Asami reminded herself. An undead. Mako was gone.

The boy placed his hand on the door, his eyes teary. Just then a loud crack split the air and the glass began to give inward from the weight against it.

"Bolin!" Asami hollered, "Bolin." They were out of time. She got back to her feet and moved towards the shelves. Ready to climb. Physical limitation be damned. She was not being eaten alive again.

Wing smashed the glass. But it had taken the undead several minutes to get through themselves. Wing was finding the same issue; this glass for some reason had been made to stand repeated blows. The glass puckered with one strong blow but still wouldn't give.

"Bolin!" Asami screamed as the undead pushed the glass further inward. Bolin reached for the door handle of the closet, "Bolin no!"

Bolin opened the closet door and the young man on the other side came racing forward.

The undead charged Bolin, his hands grabbing Bolin's shoulders and driving him backwards. Bolin grabbed him just as equally rough.

"I'm sorry." He said. But the undead didn't care about apologies. He writhed in his arms, yanking his arm clean from its socket to slip from his hold.

The glass gave way all at once to the demanding hands of the undead. Shattering inward and falling to the ground in sheets. Simultaneously Wing's window gave way. He looked down at Asami who had taken to climbing a few paces away from the window. She'd just reached the sixth shelf.

Below her she could see Korra's best friend struggling with his brother. Struggling to make a decision. To allow himself to be bitten or to do what he should have done before it had even come this far, "Bolin, listen to me!" Asami shouted as the undead began to swim the massive room, "You think all of your family is dead but that's not true. You have Opal. She's the love of your life. Believe me there are some people that become just as much your family without having a drop of your blood."

Her head beading with sweat. Her nails clawing through the wood. She desperately was holding on to the shelf, she couldn't communicate any more powerfully. She couldn't explain everything. Losing her mother. Losing her father then later being disowned by him. But having Korra. It had changed everything. It had made being parentless bearable. It had cut through the depression in the world around her.

"I'm sorry," Bolin said again, taking out his gun. He turned his head aside and pulled the trigger. The flash cut through the darkness of the room and Mako's undead body sunk the floor, resting in as much peace as this world had to offer.

A wave of undead surged upon Bolin. He fired at the closet undead in his path and made his way through the room slaughtering undead with crushing blows from his machete. Firing his gun only when absolutely necessary. Undead began falling left and right as strong boy cut them down like wheat.

He galloped towards the shelf, pulling himself up the shelves so swiftly and only barely paused to wrap his muscled arm around Asami's waist. He anchored her to his side and tugged her up and over to the window.

Below the undead reached for them, their hand beating and shaking the shelves, willing to pull the whole thing down just for a bite of them.

Wing was waiting from above, having already climbed through the space he hung his body off the roof and extended his hands to the occupants from above. Asami took his hands and he pulled her through. Bolin climbed out soon after.

The rain washed over them immediately, and Asami allowed herself to lay back on the flat surface of the libraries roof. The rain washing her body in cold water, it was a nice relief from the fever that festered in her body.

Wing sat down beside her and Bolin stood looking over the roof to the ground below. It seemed the amount of undead collecting there simply continued to grow until there were hundreds of undead, reaching to the roof top.

"Now what?" Wing asked the intelligent woman beside him.

Asami closed her eyes, "Now we wait for Korra."

1 MONTH LATER

Korra stood in the hallways of the retirement home where Katara and Toph had created a small safe-haven. The work to keep this place safe was tiring, but at the end of the day she knew Asami lay her head somewhere safe at night. She'd taken up most of Iroh's rolls since he'd passed - taking the inner wall had proved she was a capable leader - and that meant hardly ever having time to enjoy the safe-haven she kept running.

This morning was as good as any, Korra told herself again.

There was never going to be a right time. So with a machete on her hip, a shot gun strapped to her back and a supply run requiring her attendance less than an hour from then, she extended her fist towards Asami Sato's bedroom door. Her stomach knotted and she dropped her fist to knock.

The door was pulled away just before Korra's fist made purchase as if it had perceived her presence. She stopped and stared into the speckled emerald eyes of the woman. Coming up short the woman stumbled back, just barely managing to catch herself with the crutch under her arm and assistance from a nearby table.

"Sorry, I…Uhm…" Korra began. Asami's mouth hung slightly open in curiosity and surprise, "I was just coming to see you."

Asami glanced down the hall in both directions, then smiled alluding to the fact that there seemed to be no other door on this hallway except Asami's, "I can see that." Asami smiled humored by the sheer amount of dorkiness Korra possessed in her body.

"Right," Korra's resolve began slipping away.

Maybe tomorrow. She just had to get back from this supply run and then she could tell Asami how she felt. She started talking more to distract herself than anything, "We're going for a supply run and Suyin wanted me to ask if there was anything you wanted to add to the list before Daw and I head out."

She watched Asami's raven hair cascade over her face. Without thinking she moved the hair into place for the girl and continued, "Lin knows how important your work is so she'll prioritize anything you put on the list for us to collect."

Tomorrow sounds fabulous-

Wait. She became aware of her actions and froze; locking eyes with the girl in front of her, realizing her hand hovered just beside her ear. Realizing she'd been staring at Asami's lips for the entirety of what she'd been saying, and Asami had been doing pretty much the same.

Asami turned her head aside and Korra became away of the soft raven hair being pulled from her grasp, "I can't keep doing this," Asami said softly.

Korra gulped. Statement like that were for tomorrow, "Doing what?"

Asami all but whispered the words, her eyes flickering from the floor to Korra's only every so often, "Sleeping just down the hall from you."

"Kai snores that loud, huh? I can go knock his skull around a bit if you like…" Korra trailed off when Asami glared at her. She knew full well that hadn't been what Asami meant and Asami knew she was avoiding the subject.

They'd danced like this for so long; flirting with one another and writing it off as witty banter, looking for excuses to touch one another like Asami's hair falling out of place, or Korra learning the mechanics of a car. The lovely playful kisses they'd given to one another…

It was toeing a line of friendship and something more.

Korra took a breath and braced herself for whatever came next, "I know what you mean."

"Last month when we were caught in that migration, when the people we cared about were hurt and losing their lives and I lost my leg, I understood the need to wait. -we needed to survive. But, today I woke up wandering…" She tailed off, her gaze went to the floor and she chewed her lower lip to lock the words away.

"Wandering why you lay in an empty bed?" Korra finished her thoughts.

Asami's head lurched upward in shock.

Those had been the thoughts that had lead Korra here. It had all been so transparent a month ago. She'd conquer a damned city for Asami. She'd bleed for Asami and even kill to insure her safety. So why was it that when things were quiet did the transparency slipped away?

Those words had been the most honest thing Korra had said in the entirety of the last month. And now, she lifted Asami's chin and couldn't resist the smile that broke over her face, "It doesn't sound good."

Asami squinted unable to follow Korra's thoughts, and Korra wandered briefly is she should explain but she couldn't. Not quite yet. Her thumb crept over Asami's lips and she felt the kind woman press her cheek into the rest of her fingers. Asami closed her eyes, her breaths slowed and she indulged in Korra's sudden consuming touch. Korra couldn't stop herself, she didn't have the strength not to press her lips into Asami Sato's.

It was a hard kiss, harder than Korra had even intended, but slightly beyond her control, even when it was her tongue that started requesting Asami's lips part and allow Korra entrance.

Now she understood. Now she could explain.

She pulled away just enough that their lips had space between them, enough space to feel one another's breaths drift between them with a perfect balance of cold and warmth, "Tomorrow doesn't sound good at all. Not if I wake up without you in my bed."

END

 _ **Arthur Notes:**_

 _ **I can't believe this is the last chapter I will post for infection. Now what will I do with my excess of free time…? Oh right, aren't I in college or something? XD**_

 _ **As I mentioned before I am starting to work on another Korrasami AU. And you know I love me some violence and Korrasami, so hopefully we bump into each other once again.**_

 _ **I am so proud to finish this work. I loved writing every chapter. I adored everyone who left a comment and appreciated every single kudos you guys dropped. Seriously, without you guys egging me on, I would have abandoned this story long ago. You guys are amazing!**_

 _ **Come message/follow me on Tumblr AvatarUncanon for more Korrasami and all my other queer ramblings.**_

 _ **PS Did you like the ending? Hate the ending? Review and let me know what you think. You know how much I love comments. They make my gory little heart sing.**_


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